I hate greasing the front fittings

[Frank G]

Having a heavy mechanical background, and servicing my Spyders, I know the difficulties in greasing the A-arms. With that being said, I wonder if the dealer serviced machines are being properly lubricated. Only your mechanic knows!

[HuckFin]

Having a heavy mechanical background, and servicing my Spyders, I know the difficulties in greasing the A-arms. With that being said, I wonder if the dealer serviced machines are being properly lubricated. Only your mechanic knows!

I know what your saying. I used to take my Blazer to the Chevy dealer for a oil change and lube and discovered years later the upper ball joints were not being properly greased, (lots of grease piled on top but not in the ball joints) and that it was a ZR2 model with the negative offset wheels made it next to impossible to reach the fittings without taking off the wheels, which I'm sure they didn't do, so anyway I prefer doing my own general maintenance.

[BajaRon]

Having a heavy mechanical background, and servicing my Spyders, I know the difficulties in greasing the A-arms. With that being said, I wonder if the dealer serviced machines are being properly lubricated. Only your mechanic knows!

A very good question. And one that many may not want to know the answer to....

[BajaRon]

Like I said in my other post, be prepared to grind the tip down. I don't know how bajaron did it but in my experience the zerts that really need this fitting also don't have clearance for the extra 1/4 inch or so on the tip.

One thing I've discovered is that there are a lot of differences, Spyder to Spyder. It may be that yours does not have the necessary clearance. Or, it could be you need to change your attack angle. All I can say is this fitting works for me and will probably work for others, though maybe not for everyone.

[daltmeyer]

One thing I've discovered is that there are a lot of differences, Spyder to Spyder. It may be that yours does not have the necessary clearance. Or, it could be you need to change your attack angle. All I can say is this fitting works for me and will probably work for others, though maybe not for everyone.

Yeah it might just be a clearance issue for the 09 models or similar. I know I saw a few posts saying this fitting worked well. After I bought one and tried it I did another search and saw that someone had to grind it down.

Regardless this has to be my least favorite maintenance item on the Spyder by far. All that trouble and you still dont know if you got grease into half the bearings. Next time Ill be more prepared with a different fitting.

[MikeinGA]

They can definitely be a bear. I've take to using full synthetic grease from Amsoil. Synthetic grease is much thinner than regular bearing grease. That lets it get into tight places better and I've found it easier to lube those pesky A-Arm bushings on the Spyder.

It also lubricates better.

I put 45 degree fittings in the top A-Arms, the lower I can get easily in my 2001 RS-S. If your not a good mechanic get one to change the fittings for you. That's IMHO.

Mike

[BajaRon]

Yeah it might just be a clearance issue for the 09 models or similar. I know I saw a few posts saying this fitting worked well. After I bought one and tried it I did another search and saw that someone had to grind it down.

Regardless this has to be my least favorite maintenance item on the Spyder by far. All that trouble and you still dont know if you got grease into half the bearings. Next time Ill be more prepared with a different fitting.

This is the 2nd 'Elephant in the room'. The design is such that it is quite doubtful that you'll be getting grease into the entire bushing surface. Another reason I'm using the much thinner, fully synthetic grease. No guarantee, of course. But I'm upping my odds.

[NancysToy]

This is the 2nd 'Elephant in the room'. The design is such that it is quite doubtful that you'll be getting grease into the entire bushing surface. Another reason I'm using the much thinner, fully synthetic grease. No guarantee, of course. But I'm upping my odds.

I agree! Without corresponding holes or slots in the bushing (sleeve), "doubtful" is an optimistic term. I have two of the eight that will not take grease on my 2011...even with the synthetic grease. I check for play at every oil change, and expect to have to replace them (all) soon. When they won't take grease, you'llknow. If they will take grease is isn't really going to the best place. Elephant in the room, indeed!

[ulflyer]

Its not something I can do but I like to know whats involved when replacements are needed.

Looking at a fiche I see that each bushing costs $8 and the cushions (two for each bushing) are $14 each. If I were able to do the replacements myself, I'd take the bushings to a machine shop and have some holes drilled so that they would take grease. I know this has been mentioned before, by Lamont I think, but with this thread ongoing about the subject, I thought I'd toss this out again in case some enterprising do-it-yourselfer wants to give it a try.

Another thought; if a bushing were made of bronze, wouldn't that work with a minimum of grease, or even no grease?

[DrewNJ]

What are the size of the zerk fittings? Thanks!

[bluestratos]

They are 6mm. I can see if mine take grease from below, the grease does squeeze out if done correctly. I will have to see about buying 45's since my 90's don't work.

[DrewNJ]

They are 6mm. I can see if mine take grease from below, the grease does squeeze out if done correctly. I will have to see about buying 45's since my 90's don't work.

Thanks!

Sent from my DROID using Tapatalk

[gypsy_100]

What are the size of the zerk fittings? Thanks!

They are 6mm. I can see if mine take grease from below, the grease does squeeze out if done correctly. I will have to see about buying 45's since my 90's don't work.

My notes show 6mm x 1-inch thread. Those worked for me. As I said earlier, I bought about three times as many as needed and just kept trying them until I got one in each location that threaded up tight and pointed more or less the right direction.

[flybuddy]

I have 2 that I find difficult to get the flexible hose from my grease gun on. I loosen them about 1/4 turn to get them pointed in a more accessible direction, add grease and then tighten them back up.

[rcompere]

The front wheels on my 2015 RT Limited are making a low squeaking noise at low speed. I am assuming that it is because the front fittings need grease. Thoughts?

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

The front wheels on my 2015 RT Limited are making a low squeaking noise at low speed. I am assuming that it is because the front fittings need grease. Thoughts?

How long have you had your Spyder? I'm guessing you haven't studied the maintenance section of your operator's guide yet, because if you had you most likely would have noticed there is no requirement listed for greasing suspension components. That's because all of the joints were changed to lifetime grease components back about 2013. Your squeak may be coming from dry rubber bushings.

Also, this is an 8 year old thread. Most of the posters are gone, and threads this old are often not at all relevant for the current time. With questions like this one it's best to start a new thread.

[rcompere]

Gotcha. Thanks. I've had it one year.

[Mikey]

The front wheels on my 2015 RT Limited are making a low squeaking noise at low speed. I am assuming that it is because the front fittings need grease. Thoughts?

Are you hearing this squeak when you get on and off the bike? If you was on the bike and try to roll the bike by standing on the foot pegs and rocking side to side, do you hear it then? If you are hearing it at low speeds only it may be your brakes not your front end. Some times mine will do that when I first take off after a wash job or a long stay in the garage!!

[redrazor]

My 2014 RTL has no fittings on the front end!?