Question for the vehicle gurus and mechanics: settle a disagreement

[miket]

Mechanics and car gurus, I am having a disagreement with a coworker. He says automakers havent been putting greasefittings on vehicle chassis ( ball joints etc ) since the early '90s. I know they have been putting them on some vehicles but not others. My 2002 Z71 that I bought with 41k mi on it has grease fittings so he says the front end is not original. My 2008 Tahoe does not. My old 1993 Z71 ( bought with 42k mi ) had them also. My opinion is that some come with them, others dont. I dont know why, maybe higher end models did, I dont know. He says "no". If it has grease zerks it isnt original.

I need a pro to settle this.

[cvanbrunt]

My '06 ram has grease zerks on the front end and on the front drive shaft. Excerpt from my factory maintenance manual on the front drive shaft.

Front Prop Shaft Lubrication
Lubricate the front driveshaft grease fitting at each oil
change listed in the appropriate Maintenance Schedule
for your vehicle (Schedule “A” and “B”). Use Mopar
type MS-6560 (lithium based grease), or equivalent.

[TxRedneckRy]

2004 F150 did not come with grease fittings. My Moog aftermarket parts do have grease fittings.

[Airtech]

You are right! Some do have OEM installed zerks and others do not. The heavy duty or off-road vehicles tend to have them more often.

[TimH]

our 1999 RAM has greasable fittings up front.

[Palmetto]

I dont think I would waste my time.

[miket]

I dont think I would waste my time.

Probably the smart thing to do but....

[Luck_of_the_Draw]

Just had my inner/outer tie rods and upper ball joints changed out.

No OEM zerks on a 2005 Toyota tundra.

[jaime1982]

Just had my inner/outer tie rods and upper ball joints changed out.

No OEM zerks on a 2005 Toyota tundra.

I just did this on my 06 tundra, no oem zerks.

[krisw]

Yeah a lot of newer ones don't have them.

[jruss]

Every truck I ever drove is old and beat. So I don't know much about the new ones. But I have to be honest y'all was spelling out zerk. I always called them sert. Short for insert. Then I googled it. Been nameing it wrong for 41 years. Learn something new everyday.