I read a while back about the factory breaking off the ball on the grease fitting after they greased it. This was for E Bodys.Any truth to it,I can't remember.

Interesting, that is one thing I never checked on our 69 GTX vert when we got it. The car still has its original tie rods and ball joints so next time I'm at my Dad's I'll have to check it out.

And how exactly did they do this? Seems like it would strip the threads or warp the steel backing before it would break.

A few vendors such as Roger Gibson/Frank Badalson sell the break-off Zerk fittings which are different from regular Zerks, because they are designed to break off. The break-off types have the base of the protruding ball tip necked down to a thinner wall thickness. When you see the two side by side, it's obvious that the break-off is much thinner diameter just below the outer ball.

Apparently break-offs have two balls inside, while regulars have only one ball in the tip. When the outer ball is broken off, the inner ball plugs the opening and seals dirt out.

Not sure when break-offs started on Mopars or how long they lasted. The 1968 and 1969 Plymouth service manuals in Chapter 0 Lubrication for A and B bodies say every 36 months or 36,000 miles, remove threaded plugs (the broken-off Zerks), TEMPORARILY (Mopar's emphasis) install regular grease fittings, grease, remove the temporary grease fittings, and put back the factory plugs (the broken-off Zerks). The fact that Mopar wanted the break-offs put back after a grease job indicates Mopar thought they made a better seal against dirt entry than regular Zerks. The gas stations who did the grease jobs back then would have none of it and didn't care for Mopar's lube procedure - they would charge you for installing a new set of regular Zerks and throw away the break-off plugs.

For a really original restoration as-delivered from the factory, you have to buy the break-offs and break 'em off.

"The patent for the Zerk fitting was granted to Oscar U. Zerk in January 1929...", and the rest is history. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_fitting

The 2,000 mile survivor '71 Hemi Cuda in the photo does not have break-offs, so maybe Mopar stopped using them after '70.

Working in a gas station in the 60's I remember some cars coming in without grease fittings but they had small hex headed screws instead of a broken off Zerk. I just don't remember what make of cars had them, maybe GM.

I'm glad someone brought this up, because I've wondered about it too.
The parts manual shows a plug in the ball joints, and calls it that, a plug,PN.1858115. The tie rod ends don't show a separate fitting or a plug, but I have seen NOS tie rod ends with plugs in them. I don't remember any of my cars having plugs when they were new, and I can't find a mechanic who worked in a dealership back in that era to see if they remember installing any fittings when they were prepping cars for delivery.

I worked for a Chrysler dealer in the late 50's until the late 60's. New cars had the hex fitting from the factory, the pre delivery that we did on new cars included a lube job, this was to be done carefully so as not to pump too much grease into the tie rods, etc. and break the dust/H2O seal. We then replaced the hex head plugs. 36,000 mile lube interval was Chryslers big new idea. I don't ever remember a 'break off' fitting.

I bought a new 1966 Sport Fury and I followed that procedure. Later I bought a new 68 Sport Fury and the same hex plugs were in that car.

Not to beat this to death, but, the plugs may look to be different but they both have the same part number, 1858115, all the way from at least 1967 thru at least 1972. As far as Frank Badelson, if he sells the breakaway fittings, he obviously believes in them.

Adding a little fuel to this fire,I have found an NOS upper ball joint.In the box is a message from Chrysler.For those that can't make it out,it says"After lubrication,remove the spherical head of the fitting by breaking it off with a pair of channel-lock pliers or other suitable tool,thus leaving an effective plug against leakage or improper refill".Another piece to the puzzle.

Picture of NOS ball joint with correct break off grease fitting.

I emailed Frank Badalson about this for my 69 A body, and he replied,

"the knock off zirks were used at least as early as 66.....the only thing is.....some assembly lines broke them off and some didnt.....there are just as many original untouched cars that have them intact------as have them broke off...........unless you have some of your original components.....there is no way to know how your car came......meaning broken or not.........but that aside-------I would guess your car had the break off type---admittedly----most of my research has been channeled toward the B and E bodies."

My interpretation is that the break-offs were used on the assembly line for all cars of the era, and there was no parts book listing for the breakoff fittings, only the plugs. It does appear some parts counter assemblies like the ball joint mentioned above did come with the break-offs.

Next I'll ask him where they were, just ball joints and not tie rod ends, or both.

Question to Frank Badalson: Were the break-offs only installed in the 4 ball joints, or were they in the tie rods ends and idler arm too?

Frank: "well....the "break-off" was just a type of grease fitting.......all grease fittings are the same.....so yes the same fitting was used in all locations."

So there you have it...

This shows a side view of the knock-off Zerk on left supplied by Frank Badalson, regular Zerk on right.

You can see the knock-off is necked down and should be easy to break.

Top view of Zerks: the knock-off is on left. The ball is much deeper, below the part that knocks off in order to leave a seal. The ball can be seen through the bottom opening, unlike a regular Zerk.

Probably the ball is exposed after breakoff.

At first I thought the knock-off was just a regular Zerk necked down, but now I see the ball is totally different. This knock-off looks to be NOS, a good repro, or maybe somebody still makes these.

Quote:

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This knock-off looks to be NOS, a good repro, or maybe somebody still makes these.

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Or it's missing the ball all together

I took the breakable fitting out of this NOS ball joint and it has a small ball with spring in the lower half of the fitting.So after the ball was broken off it still would be sealed.Sorry for the poor picture.