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The Joys of Greased Swivels


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No, no juicy picks of destroyed CVs - sorry! But I did discover one of the problems with grease filled swivels this evening - went out to change the grease in the Discovery (change is a bit optimistic in the case of the offside - replace is probably nearer the mark). Never had any problem on the Range Rover, which I filled with grease but which had oil before that. The Discovery is a '95 so has always had grease. The plugs have almost certainly never been removed, and it's done 160k, a good deal of it while covered in road salt... All the plugs are rusted up solid and have corroded heads. Tried all the usual tricks on the fill plug and got nowhere - level is definitely not coming out without drilling as the head's soft - didn't see much point in trying the drain if I couldn't shift either of the others!

I've left it soaking in plus gas, but given the condition of the offside swivel (it's deteriorating quicker than I was expecting :() I'm wondering if it might be time to change the truck. I got a quote for getting a (cheap backstreet) local garage to do the swivels a while back - he reckoned about £500 all in, which given it also needs the A-frame ball joint and bushes done is starting to sound like a lot of money to spend on a truck that's probably only worth a few hundred. There's no way I'm tackling either job myself, but I'm not all that convinced that a garage wouldn't struggle to get the ball joints off too, given how well rusted everything is.

We'll see what tomorrow brings - don't really want to change the truck at the moment, not least because I know exactly what's wrong with this one (nothing else important). I quick look at eBay didn't throw up anything particularly tempting either :(

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Yep, tried all the usual tricks - percussive maintenance, heat (ish - a blow torch doesn't heat a lump of metal that big very well), penetrating oil. I'll try it again after it's soaked in oil for a bit.

John - thanks, but getting away is a bit of problem at the moment so leaving it with Les is more likely to work out.

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