Any suggestions on getting to those hard to reach zerks on the 2000 SP500? Like the zerks on the front shaft????

How do you all reach those turkeys with your grease guns?

Also, how many of you actually disconnect your tie rod ends and grease both sides of the tie rod end like the service manual suggests?

 

Put a flex. rubber hose on your gun.

 

I am using an 8 inch flex rubber tube, but it is still a BEAR to reach these zerks. Just getting my arm to the zerks is almost impossible.

Do most of you reach the shaft zerks from underneath (and if so, how do you best get under the bike)? Or, are you reaching behind the from wheel to the shaft zerk -- a super long reach at best!?

Thanks for the info.

 

4M- I grease all fittings that don't need rotation first. than run the floor jack under the center so all four wheels are off the ground. This way you can rotate the rear tires and line up the front shafts and also turn the fronts wheels side to side to acess the stearing and such. I use a phumatic grease gun and do my whole machine in about 4 minuets.
Hope this helps, what ever you do, keep on greasing, this is the life blood of any wear points.

 

I always jack it up, put it on jackstands and take off all the wheels. Wheels-on would be a bear of a job!. With the wheels off, it's much easier to see and reach everything. Then I usually pound out the dent's in the rims before I put them back on.

 

I used to jack my SP up to grease and service, until my bro came in the garage and asks, "why don't you use the overhead chain hoist?" Now that seemed silly, considering I put the garage up, and the 12" I beam, AND the overhead chain hoist, jeez I got it great. Place the lift hook around the tow hitch ball, and up she goes, however high I want it.

 

If you can't jack it or hoist it, roll the bike back and forth until the zerks line up with a hole in the skidplate or a gap between the floorboard and skidplate, depending on which one your are attempting. Not being afraid to lay on the floor is helpful for all those underside fittings. A flexible hose is a must.

Shannon
99 Sportsman 500
01 Sportsman 90
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/scavanau1

 

I put 2 stands under the floorboards and a trolley jack under the rear end and with all 4 wheels off the ground the wheels come off. I too use an air impact gun and an air grease gun, this makes the job so much easier. Using the grease gun is a snap as one hand operates the gun and the other holds the flex nozzle on the zerk. When injecting grease I make sure all the old contaminated grease is ejected, typically 7-10 squirts per zerk. The grease job takes about 20 mins but the cleanup (removing the excess grease from the U joints etc) makes the job somewhat longer. For me the whole job takes about 1 ½ hrs.

 

If you have a winch you can use an overhead beam or a large tree limb and winch it up. sounds strange but, works ok.