Auto Chassis
Car chassis is one of the most neglected yet vital parts of the automobile. But, knowing how to properly take care of your chassis can last long the life of your vehicle. This is because the chassis is continually in motion, from how it converts engine power to propulsion to how it absorbs the physical feedback generated by its suspension system as you drive. The best way to ensure the smoothest ride is to lubricate your chassis every six months. This will maintain its functionality and ensure it is working optimally with other structural components.
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Prepare Your Vehicle
To inspect your car chassis every vehicle owner requires a safe and secure place to look underneath their vehicle. So, before you begin the process, you must collect the safety gear and find the ideal safe place for the inspection or maintenance of your chassis.
If you want to safely lift your vehicle, make sure you park on a flat, clean surface and invest in a good car jack. As you work under your vehicle, you may come into contact with dirt, grease, and oil. Wear work clothes, gloves, and safety glasses to protect yourself.
Inspect Signs Of Rust Or Wear
Firstly, check for the signs of rust or damage on your auto chassis. Because signs that show that you may need to replace the components on your chassis includes:
- Cracked CV joint boots
- Mud-caked Components
- Visible Rust
Most of you would know that damaged components would make the ride uncomfortable and dangerous, so it is vital to check and replace the damaged chassis and suspension components routinely.
Take some time for your vehicle to clean off any dirt or mud built upon the chassis. These areas are typically very moist, which is why they will be the first to experience rust. A small spot of rust can grow into a large area, so make sure that your chassis is well maintained to prevent rust spread.
Find Chassis Lubrication Points
The chassis lubrication points are the areas where you have to put the grease to help your chassis move properly. If needed check your owner’s manual to make sure you don’t miss any lubrication points. For the most moving components, you have to do routine lubrication. Look for the following lubrication points:
Suspension joints
- Steering joints
- Ball joints
- Sway bars
- Bushings
The lubrication of some components, such as suspension joints, is usually done directly, while others require special grease fittings to adequately lubricate them. Before you begin, make sure you understand what type of lubricant to use in each area of your chassis.
How To Lubricate Chassis Parts
As soon as you’ve identified all the areas to be lubricated, make them easily accessible. Chassis parts can mostly only be accessed from the underside of the car, so they must be jack-stand or hoisted in a lift to be accessed. You must use secure jack stands and braces in addition to a hydraulic jack if you aren’t working with a lift. It is vital to use stands with proper weight distribution and placement for your safety.
Your next step will be to load your grease gun. For those of you who have never loaded one before, here is the step:
How To Load Grease Gun
1. Lock Your Grease Gun
The grease gun plunger should be pushed back and locked into place. After locking, you should hear a click. If you are unsure whether the draw has locked, decrease the pressure without letting go and see if the draw attempts to retract. When it does, continue to pull. It may take a little effort to lock open a grease gun.
2. Open The Barrel
The grease should be removed from the grease barrel by unscrewing it. Remember to clean out the old grease tube if you started with a loaded gun and then reloaded it.
3. Open The Cartridge
On one end of the new cartridge, there is a pull tab that allows the cartridge to be opened. You will find it on the side of the pump. There is another side with a plastic cap that goes over the plunger.
4. Load The Grease Tube
Put the grease tube in the barrel after removing the plastic cap and pull tab. If there is any extra tube left in the old tube, pack it into the new tube
5. Put It Back Together
Connect the zerk by putting the connector on and clicking it in place. Attach the barrel by screwing the barrel together. To lubricate vehicles, a zerk connects to the grease reservoir in the car.
After identifying the points you need to lubricate, it’s time to crawl under the vehicle. Once you’re under the vehicle, they’re going to appear very different from how they looked at the beginning. When working on your car, make sure that you have a maintenance manual available for the model and year you are working on.
Make sure you thoroughly examine each diagram and use the proper area lighting to locate and fill each reservoir at the lubrication points. The grease gun should be operated by attaching the zerk to the water reservoir’s fill point and pressing the trigger until there is a small amount of grease coming out. If you slightly overfill it, it won’t hurt you, so it’s better than accidentally underfilling.
Do Inspect The Underside Of Your Vehicle
You should always inspect the parts you just serviced before lowering the car and calling the project complete. During the inspection of suspension parts without grease reservoirs, you can look for signs of wear and breakage. To service U-joints and other components without disassembling the vehicle, you’ll need to exert extra effort.
It is important to keep in mind that rear-wheel-drive vehicles require spinning to access their grease reservoirs, so the vehicle must be in neutral while you access them. When you are spinning the joints, take the time to check whether the joints move forward and backward. If it does, this is a clear indication that the u-joints need to be replaced.
Make sure the boots of the CV joints on the front end aren’t cracked and replace them if necessary. In addition, to lubricate your chassis, you should consider the suspension parts that take most of the hits as you are driving on rough terrain, so it is possible to replace them before a mechanical failure causes you problems.
Wrap Up
It is estimated that most DIYers will take one hour to complete this project. Expert mechanics, whether professionals or hobbyists, can do it in 30 minutes if they have the right tools and a good process, but if you’ve never done this before, it’s important to slow down and make sure you service every component. Performing this task periodically prolongs the life of your vehicle, as well as reduces any extra noise while driving by reducing the contacts between the leaf spring bushings, ball joints, and other moving parts.
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