How Often To Grease?
 

I have found a manual for my Truck 1985 FLC with the grease locations, and now my question is this:

How often do I do this grease job on my Truck?

I drive on avg 1,200 miles per week. I change the oil at 12,000 due to the fact I drive off road and on dirt roads quite often. This is not a typical OTR Job, as I haul logs, and the longest one way I go is 120 miles.

Would I need to do the normal oil change and grease then? I grease the brakes every month, but am unsure about the rest of the Truck.

Is there a manual out there that tells you when to do certain things on your Truck?

I am looking for Advice and suggestions on how to maintain an older Truck and keep it in the best work order possible. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.

I know of some owner operators who grease everything about half way in between oil changes. You can never put too much grease on the truck. Greasing will help extend the life of your parts. Since you are off road much of the time, you need to make sure to keep as much dirt and dust out of moving parts as possible. When you put in grease, it will force anything that has made it's way into those parts out.

In a severe service application such as logging or dump truck, I would recommend a complete grease job once a week, ( every 5 working days)

That's how I've always done it.

Grease is cheaper than parts & it's a lot easier to install.

Don't forget to grease the clutch release bearing and those fittings at each end of the clutch release shaft, those are kind of hidden and sometimes overlooked.

I grease up every time I go home, every 2 to 3 weeks regardless of how many miles I drive.
I grew up on a farm, and was the designated grease guy, so it seems like old times,....only without having my sister trying to spray me from the water tanker.

Just don't slam the S-cam tubes with grease, or it can end up in your brakes.

Birken

Don't forget to grease the clutch release bearing and those fittings at each end of the clutch release shaft, those are kind of hidden and sometimes overlooked.

Thanks for the great info!

I was looking around today and found one on the fan housing of the engine, wow that was not in the manual for sure.

Are there any other places that could be overlooked, as this will be my first time doing it, and want to try and get them all?

Creeper and a flashlight................

Any advice on how to get a fitting to take grease? I have already replaced the fitting and still cannot get it to take grease? I have 2 on my Truck and 4 on my Trailer that I cannot get to take grease.

That's usually a sign that at some point in the truck's past it was not greased often enough.

I've run into this a time or 2 when I bought a used truck that was neglected by it's previous owner.

What happens is that stale grease combines with dirt that has worked it's way into the parts, and the resulting mixture hardens in the grease passage, making it impossible for the new grease to get through.

Is it the pins on the ends of the springs that are doing this?
That's where I've usually seen it happen.

You can try to warm up the pin with a torch to try and liquify the hardened material that's jammed in there, and then quickly put the grease gun on there & try to force some grease in while it's warm.
Don't overdo it with the heat! If warming it up doesn't work, then the pin will have to come out, and the grease passage will have to be cleaned out.

Unless you are experienced with disassembling & reassembling this kind of stuff, I would recommend taking it to a mechanic if it has to come apart in order to get it to take grease.