You stick the end of the needle right into the middle of the end of the zerk. theres is a little ball bearing on the end which holds grease in. push the tip of the needle in the hole where the ball bearing is sticking out and give it a few pumps. You got to apply enough pressure to the zerk to keep the grease from coming out. Try it on one that is easy to get to, good luck!

 

I bought a little grease injector needle about like a syringe needle and it bends easily. Maybe your injector needle is larger than mine. I suppose I'll just leave the rear U-joint on the front driveshaft ungreased.

It's kind of a hassle just getting into a position to grease the U-joints. I suppose the easiest way (not necessarily the safest way, but what way is safe and easy when you are working on an ATV?) would be to drive it up on long boards on the ground and put it in neutral so you can roll it to get at the zerks and crawl under from the front and rear.

I held my stripped bolt with a Vise-Grip and drilled it out and put in a bolt, nut and washers to hold on the front plastic skid plate.

 

grease..
boat trailer wheel grease
or kendall blue hi perf

;-)

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: STRAIGHTUPDAHILL

grease..

boat trailer wheel grease

or kendall blue hi perf



;-)</end quote></div>

I think a good general-purpose automotive lithium grease will do.

 

I have another option. When I saw how tight the locations of the zerk fittings were on my Kodiak, I made a quick trip to my local NAPA parts store. I found a right angle coupler that fits a standard grease gun similar to the needle type. The NAPA part number is 700-2020. For some reason they did not have it listed on their website. I don't know why. It was pricey ($12.99) but it works great. Basically it looks like a standard coupler tip but it has a u-shaped slot in the side of it so it can slip into the tightest of spots.

 

Thanks for the tip, SalsCREW.

I see there are some pictures of right angle grease couplers online.

I assume one that screws right onto your grease gun is better than one with a zerk.

http://www.macnaughtusa.com/mn_acc_couopler.html

 

I found a good pic of the right angle coupler similar to the one I have.

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/the418.html


You can really see in the pic how tight of a space it can get into

 

I bought a Thexton right angle coupler, but it apparently will not get into the yokes far enough to get onto the zerk of the rear U-joint on the front driveshaft of the Kodiak 450. I suppose I will just leave it ungreased.

How does the driveshaft come off? I see a nut beyond the U-joint, but a regular wrench won't fit on it.

 

I finally chose a special grease adapter that is in between the needle and the regular one. It flares out at the end kind of like a funnel does. You press it against the zerk. It does make a mess but it is doable.

 

Can you show one to us on the internet?