O.k., the only one's who should be reading this are the practicals, not the "keep it originals", so I shouldn't get any flack when I ask about putting a zert fitting in the radius ball cap. I've seen some guys put them in the pitman arm cap and the drag link cap (which I plan on doing this summer) to make greasing those areas much easier. But I wonder if anyone has ever put one in the radius ball cap or is that a bad idea?
Hi Bill
The radius rod ball cap moves very little. Usually it is greased every couple years .... even in a car that is driven frequently.
probably nothing wrong with a zerk fitting there but not sure its worth the trouble ;o)
PS Molly says Hi
I have one a the aftermarket spring loaded ones on mine. Even after running a a number of years there was still a lot of grease in it. I would be with Bud on this one, if you want to go for it but might just be over kill. Besides, bet a lot of the grease would just shoot out the sides and front and might not even make it too the top.
A grease fitting, zerk or otherwise has no place on a Model T. I can't imagine anyone so lazy, that they can't remove the end caps on a tie rod, or the wishbone cap every couple of years, and grease it properly with your favorite grease. I prefer, wheel bearing grease, and it has always worked for me. The grease cups that came on our cars are adequate for their applications, and the oilers for the king pins,tie rod ends, and shackles can still use oil. They don't need grease.
Oh poo! If someone wants to put zerk fitting on their car, go for it. True they are adequate (keeps from putting too much grease in the outer rear roller bearings), except for refilling the U-joint housing, that heaping teaspoon of grease per filling take a long time to fill it.
I like original cars as much as the next guy but my time to enjoy them is limited. Every T I have has grease zerks inside the cups. If the next owner feels the need to be absolutely original it will take him/her less time to install new grease cups than it will take them to grease the car! JMHO.
Well, I guess I was wrong. Here I thought with a heading of "grease fittings" the original police wouldn't even look into my posting but there's always somebody. Yes, I suppose I'm lazy but like Paul and a whole lot of other T guys who just want to get on the road I'm all for doing something easier to spend less time under the car and more time in the car. Just me. And thanks to all the rest of the posters who usually give great advice or their opinion with style and humor instead of name calling. BTW, I thought grease cups were considered a grease fitting? And Bud, tell Molly I said "hi" too!
My roadster has had one in the radius ball cap since I bought it. Makes life a little easier.
Paul (and others)
I have seen grease cups with the zerk fittings installed on the top of the caps (visible), but have never seen them inside the cups.
Homemade item ? Vendor item ? Period accessory ?
I'm probably going to install the hidden grease zerk cups on the rear axle of mine. I bought reproduction cups and they are worthless. They are still filled with grease even after I screw the caps in the whole way. I end up removing them and forcing grease in through the hole using my grease gun. A zerk would be great. Might do the same with the Universal joint.
Zerks are a later technology, so definitely not a period accessory.
I replaced all of my beat-to-death grease cups with the zerk fitting cups. Bud, if the zerk is on the actual top of the cup then someone installed it at home. The item the vendors sell has the zerk hidden inside like Steve's picture shows.
My only annoyance is that my big u-joint cup is NOT a zerk yet because no one is making them right now. Apparently when I ordered one in June of 2013 I had just missed out on the last few that were in stock, the guy who was doing them passed away I'm afraid. Lang's has the tooling and is going to make them available again, but they were in the middle of getting ready to move to their new building and there's no telling when they'll be able to get around to making the u-joint cup with a zerk. Which is completely understandable. In the mean time I just pack it and twist it on, old-school, and then walk around and grease gun the other 4 really quickly. Lol, it's the longest backorder ever.
Alemite introduced the push pin lube point in 1918. It was a pin that accepted a push grease gun. Then in about 1923 Alemite purchased Allyne-Zerk which had the currently used push type grease fitting. Between 1923 and 1933 some manufactures used the new Zerk fitting and some didn't. Ford didn't change over until about 1935.
Mike
The cup fittings on the axle for the wheel bearings, and all others that size: Many say the cups with the hidden zerk as in Steve's photo bought new are NG. I've converted a number of orig units to hidden zerk by running a 1/8" NPT tap down the shaft. In fact I've never had to drill out the hole. The tap goes through as is with no problem. The shortest 1/8" NPT zert made is then screwed in and the cap fits back on normally. As to Bills question, I'm with Bud. OK but not worth the effort.
For the guy who can't be troubled to lift the floorboards or crawl under the car. Truth be told, this was a MT500 car and I suspect it was being greased on-the-fly.
I kinda enjoy filling grease cups. There's something nostalgic about it. It's part of the Model T experience. On my Model A, I also enjoy using the original grease gun that you have to hold up against the fitting rather than it 'snapping' on like modern grease fittings. The older I get, the more I find myself working with wrenches instead of ratchets and sockets. While I own an air ratchet and impact wrench, they don't see much use anymore. Just hang on the pegboard above my bench.
And now, before any of you accuse me of badmouthing, re-read my post. I didn't tell anyone how they should do it on their own car. I merely pointed out how enjoyable it can be to do it like they did it back then.
Bud,
"I have seen grease cups with the zerk fittings installed on the top of the caps (visible), but have never seen them inside the cups."
That's the whole idea! You can buy like that from Lang's or just make your own. My dad did this for many years.