I had used an o'reilly single hand handheld jobby for years, and then a couple years ago upgraded to a Lucas brand handheld. These are the ones that hold the small 8" long cartridge, maybe 1-1/4" diameter. Anyway, these would both use about 1/3 or 1/2 of the cartridge, then act like it ran out. I ended up with a mess on my hands and wasted LOTS of grease. Today, I did my wheel bearings on my boat trailer, with bearing buddies, and the job took me about 45 minutes, the greasing took another hour and a half. I need a better grease gun. May as well go full sized so I don't have to have 20 grease cartridges laying around for each project.
I carry a full size one with a hose on my truck since I service gate wheels and such.. I have learned that an air pocket will develop and needs purging. I will pound the head down on the flat spot using a towel. Grease guns are messy no matter what..
Is any brand better than the next? Or should I just grab a Craftsman? OR will a harbor freight one work. My dad had one when I was a kid, he still has it. No telling what brand, but that is what I want...one that works problem-free for the next 40 years.
Buy a good one, cheapest isn't the way to go. Harbor Freight might be too cheap... Mine is like 40 years old, stills good.
Napa sells one made by " Alemite ". I've had mine for several years and it's worked great! All you have to do if it ever gets (stuck ) is to loosen the barrel up a turn and that lets trapped air out.
I say go w/ the full-size of gud quality - like those B4 me. I have had mine for arnd 30yrs but don't use it that much since cars have been coming w/o need for grease and sold my last boat abt 10yrs ago. I own both size guns - I used each w/ different type lube/grease. Another thing I experienced when I was a boat owner. I discovered that after filling the Bearing Buddies and driving enough to expand the grease in Buddie's, I had problems w/ seals leaking. My suggestion is not to fill them to capacity/or all the way out.
Except for the torque wrenches, there's at least 3 forums who've done testing on craftman and HB units. and Surprisingly the HB one was more accurate than the craftsman, and handled the stress test better. I dont even bother with craftsman or HB, I live next to a bunch of industrial places so there's always a Matco truck at some point in the week
Lincoln Lubrication 5848 Adjustable Swivel Hydraulic Coupler This head will go from straight to 90 deg and works great on an Alemite Professional Series #500 lever grease gun or 555 pistol grip grease gun. The head is very versatile and may even eliminate the need for a flexible hose but i would have one just in case. These guns work great and have a bleeder valve.
I Forgot to add that its their newer ones, like made in the past 10 years. Here's one of the threads http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69831 I Like old tools a lot better than the newer stuff, there's less plastic. My dad was a picker and by the time I was a teenager he had a huge lot of old tools that he passed on to me
Got a few of them. My Fav has a spring loaded bleeder on the top for new cartridges/air bubbles. Something like this with a flex hose. I find the full lever models a bit awkward in tight spots. I prefer this pistol type. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200303973_200303973
Here's the one I have had for about 10 years.. I put a grease fitting on the top where the plug is when I worked at Pep Boys so that I could fill it with their pressureized one. I also ditched the tube and went with a hose. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_137366_137366 I buy Castrol grease so I can see the fresh stuff when it comes out. Lately it seems that it doesn't matter which grease I get. The Texas heat melts it and causes the gun to leak. Grease guns can suck..:rant:
