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marcel27208
Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 793
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: Does anyone else change and lube their own oil? |
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| Just curious cause i have a 2000 century class and am gonna tackle changing my own oil and filter this weekend, i have to buy a grease gun to lube fittings but my question is, how will i know what to lube???? never "lubed" b4??? |
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ironeagle2006
Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 865
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Word to the wise will need about 2 lbs of grease a heavy duty jack and a VERY LARGE drain pan. Most heavy duty truck engines hold about 11-13 gallons oil plus you have to punch a hole in the oil filters to drain them to make getting them off less messy. Also if you do not have the press needed to compress the filters down you can not just throw them away. They will be considered hazmat. Your best bet and also to make sure you do not miss anything is just take it to the local dealership and or local truck lube shop. |
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Rev.Vassago
Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 6111
Location: The other side of the coin
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Lubing a truck is a daunting task if you don't know where all the grease fittings are. The first time I lubed mine, I spent about 4 hours on my back, and I still missed some. I would much rather spend the money and let the dealer do the dirty work. After all, they already know where the fittings are, and their compressor-powered grease gun is going to do a whole lot better job than my hand powered one. |
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Mackman
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2428
Location: Concordville PA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Well i help my dad out he does his own lube and oil and he does all his own tire work to. We have all the air stuff JACK grease gun etc. It really ain't to bad once you get all the stuff you need and you fine all the fittings. As far as the oil filters go we all ways threw them in the trash and never had a problem. The used oil a friend of ours takes it back to his shop he has a heater that burns used oil. |
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Maniac
Joined: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 636
Location: Northeast
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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I've changed my own oil and greased my trucks for 30 years, still have the same old Sears grease gun too.
BUT it is best left to the pros if you don't know what you are doing, I have NEVER had a grease related failure, but know several people who did because they "never knew" there was grease fitting there, or how much grease to put in. |
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heavyhaulerss
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Posts: 587
Location: north alabama
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| when i bought my first truck. i serviced it myself. just so that i knew where all the grease fitting were, how much oil should be in motor ,plus rear's, trans , e.t.c. once you do it a few times & learn where all the grease fitting are & how much to grease to administer, then by all means to save time & geting dirty take it in & have done. i have taken my truck to various big name co's petro, pilot, e.t.c. lot's of these so called service techs. get paid low wages & are not very well trained. ive watched them miss several grease fitting, plus other mistakes. the only time you should feel comfortable taking it in & if you know how to do it all yourself first. you can then correct any mistakes you see them make. take the time to learn all you can about your truck. i am a o/o. i have serviced my truck for over 7 years. just hit one mil miles, & still original motor (never worked on) same clutch,trans, rears, u- joints, e.t.c. the only way to know if someone is taking care of your truck, is to know how the work should be performed yourself.. soooo....get dirty.. learn... |
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Papa Rick
Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Posts: 339
Location: North Alabama
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:36 am Post subject: |
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The first time I had the oil changed and everything greased it cost me $250.00. After this I decided to figure out a way to do this myself and save some money.
I went to:
https://secure.freightliner.com/newbulletins/techmanuals/internetdocs/DMMM_manuals.asp?brand=Freightliner.
Found which one was mine, downloaded it and went to work figuring out what was where and how to do this for the very first time. It did take me awhile to do this the first time, but I got it done.
The next step is VERY Important!
Find someone who does this on a regular basis and then pay them to go back over with you and check everything. I got everything except for the:
a. Clutch Release Bearing.
b. Cross-Shaff Grease Fitting.
The person showed me where they were at let me borrow his grease gun to do this.
I haul logs for a living and drive in alot of dust, so I grease mine every three weeks, so paying someone to do this could add up quickly.
In the manual I gave you the web address to, I found a Axle Oil Filter that needed to be changed that had not been changed or mentioned needing changing.
I have found out the more questions you ask from someone that knows what they are doing the better off you will be.
I posted a question about Overhead and oil change questions on here, and got some great answers.
Check out:
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23070&highlight= |
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marylandkw
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 515
Location: Maryland
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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My vote is for sure to at least do your greasing yourself.These things are HUGE investments and I really like to have an intimate knowledge of every last thing on that truck so I can catch problems before they catch me. And next time you are getting it done at the (insert Truck stop name here) try to figure out if you really trust that mechanic or grease jockey with your investment.
Papa Rick wrote: Find someone who does this on a regular basis and then pay them to go back over with you and check everything. This is VERY good advice.
I do my greasing and oil changes myself and burn the oil in a shop heater. I know I am a bad boy however, I just throw the old filters away.
I am a little odd and like to grease my truck once a week, every Saturday morning you will find me crawling under my truck. |
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sidman82
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 410
Location: Long Island,NY
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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I'll agree on greasing your truck yourself. A lot of shops will not do it on a service unless you specifically tell them to. I have a shop that just moved around the corner from me. I said, do I need an appointment to bring it in?, or can I just show up? He said just call the day before and drop it off.
So, I say you guys will grease it with the service, right? He asks me,
you want us to grease it to? I say, well what the hell kind of service is that, if you don't grease the truck. I don't think I'll bring it to him.
A lot of shop monkeys do not want to spend the time to grease a truck properly. Beware. It is of major importance to do so. |
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