Vehicle Chassis Lubrication
A truck, tipper or bus carries dozens of grease points strung out along a chassis rail, most of them awkward to reach and all of them working hardest when the vehicle is furthest from the yard. We supply the on-vehicle lubrication systems that feed those points while the vehicle runs: grease pumps that take the vehicle's own 12 V or 24 V supply, progressive distributors sized to the point count, factory-fit to vehicle and trailer builders in India and as retrofit kits for fleet workshops.
The lubrication points
What a chassis system feeds
Grease points on the running gear and the coupling, fed in sequence from one pump mounted on the chassis rail. The engine, gearbox and axle each keep their own oil; this system is the greasing round that used to be done by hand.
Point 1
Steering kingpins & tie rod ends
The kingpin bushes and the ball joints of the steering linkage, working every time the vehicle turns and carrying the front axle load while they do it. Play here is felt at the wheel long before anyone strips the joint down, and a dry kingpin is the usual reason it appears.
Point 2
Spring pins & shackles
The pins and bushes at each end of the leaf springs, plus the equalizer beam bushes on a bogie suspension. They take every load reversal the road hands the chassis, and they sit low down where road spray washes grease out faster than a monthly round replaces it.
Point 3
Brake camshafts & slack adjusters
The S-cam shaft bushes and the slack adjuster on each drum brake. A stiff camshaft bush slows the brake off the pedal and pulls the vehicle unevenly, which makes this the point on the list with the shortest patience for a missed greasing round.
Point 4
Fifth wheel & coupling
On a tractor unit, the fifth wheel plate and its locking jaw: a large sliding surface that takes the whole trailer load and scrapes itself clean every time the unit turns. Trailer landing legs and the drawbar eye on a rigid and drawbar combination belong to the same round.
Not this system
Engine, gearbox & axles
Engine oil, gearbox oil and axle oil are each a sealed, self-contained charge on a drain and refill interval, and sealed-for-life wheel bearings are packed at assembly. None of them are fed from a chassis greasing system, and none of them should be.
The architecture
Why progressive distribution suits a vehicle
A chassis is a long, thin machine: the points are spread over several metres of rail and are reached by pipe runs of very different lengths, which is exactly the case a progressive distributor is built for. It feeds every outlet in a fixed sequence from a single supply line, and because each piston has to complete its stroke before the next one moves, a blockage anywhere stops the whole block rather than quietly starving one point. On a vehicle that is the property that matters: nobody is standing next to the chassis watching for a dry pin, so the system has to fail in a way that shows up. The SD2 blocks assemble in threes to tens and cover 1 to 20 points per combined distributor, with an indicator pin available on a block so the sequence can be confirmed by eye at a service. For how the three architectures compare, see how a centralised system meters a dose and choosing the right distributor.
Grease, not oil, and at pressure: a progressive system needs enough pressure to drive a cold, stiff grease the length of the chassis and still index the last block in the sequence. That rules out the light, low-pressure architectures used on machine-mounted systems and is why chassis work sits at the heavy end of the range, alongside construction and engineering machinery.
| Point | Lubricant | Metering | Herg components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering kingpins, tie rod ends | Grease | Progressive, per-cycle dose | AP chassis pump + SD2 distributor |
| Spring pins, shackles, equalizer bushes | Grease | Progressive, per-cycle dose | AP chassis pump + SD2 distributor |
| Brake camshafts, slack adjusters | Grease | Progressive, per-cycle dose | ZD medium pressure pump + SD2 distributor |
| Fifth wheel, coupling, landing legs | Grease | Progressive, heavier dose | ZD medium pressure pump, ZJ high pressure pump |
| Line branching | N/A | N/A | TH joint fitting, 2 to 10 outlets |
| Monitoring | N/A | N/A | Pressure switch, gauge, filter, level indicator |
Built for the vehicle
Running off the vehicle's own supply
A chassis pump has no mains socket to work from, so it runs on the vehicle's battery. The AP type chassis pump is built for exactly this duty: AP-31-300X on DC 12 V and AP-32-300X on DC 24 V, both drawing 40 W and delivering 260 mL/min at 3.5 to 3.8 MPa. The 3 L reservoir is moulded in polycarbonate so the grease level can be read off the unit without opening it, a level switch is fitted as standard, and the housing is rated IP55 for a mounting position under a chassis where it takes road spray and dust as a matter of course. The outlet is M16 × 1.5 for ø10 pipe.
Where the point count or the duty is heavier, the ZD medium pressure pump runs from the same 12 V or 24 V supply at up to 18 MPa, carries a vehicle-mounted controller, and takes one to three piston mechanisms at 1.2 to 4.0 mL/min each with reservoirs from 2 to 8 L. It can be cycled from an external PLC or run on its own time programme, so lubrication happens on engine hours or distance rather than whenever the vehicle next comes back to the workshop. For heavier still, or where two circuits need to work separately, the ZJ high pressure pump is rated to 30 MPa across one or two independent outlets; note that the SD2 distributor itself is rated to 25 MPa, so a ZJ-fed circuit is set up to work within that.
Grease grade matters more on a vehicle than on a machine sitting indoors, because the system has to pump on the coldest morning of the year as well as at road temperature. The AP pump takes NLGI 000# to 0# grease and the ZD takes NLGI 000# to 2#, while the SD2 distributor works from −20 °C to +80 °C. See choosing the right lubricant for what a given climate and duty call for, and the installation and operating manual for each product for mounting and commissioning detail.
Who we supply
Factory-fit for builders, retrofit for fleets
Vehicle & trailer builders
OEM production supply
We supply chassis lubrication systems against OEM production schedules, engineered to the chassis layout and point count, with consistent specification and batch documentation for every unit. If you build tippers, tankers, trailers or bus chassis, start with the pump range and the distributor range and we will match them to the vehicle.
Discuss an OEM programme →Fleet operators & workshops
Retrofit & replacement
A vehicle on a manual greasing round can be retrofitted without touching the running gear: a pump bracketed to the rail, a progressive distributor sized to the existing points, and pipe run to each one. We also supply drop-in replacement pumps and distributors, with fault finding guidance online for a system already in service.
Ask about a retrofit →Common questions
Vehicle chassis lubrication, answered
What is a centralised chassis lubrication system?
A pump mounted on the chassis rail, a progressive distributor, and pipe run to each grease point on the running gear. The pump runs to a schedule and sends a metered dose of grease to every point in sequence, replacing the manual greasing round with something that happens while the vehicle works.
Which points does it feed?
The grease points on the running gear and the coupling: steering kingpins and tie rod ends, spring pins, shackles and equalizer bushes, brake camshaft bushes and slack adjusters, and on a tractor unit the fifth wheel plate. Engine, gearbox and axle oil are separate charges and are not fed from it.
Does the pump run off the vehicle battery?
Yes. The AP type chassis pump is built for a DC supply: AP-31-300X on 12 V and AP-32-300X on 24 V, drawing 40 W. The ZD medium pressure pump runs from the same 12 V or 24 V supply and adds a vehicle-mounted controller, so neither needs mains power or an inverter.
Which grease grade does a chassis system need?
A soft grease, because it has to pump the length of the chassis when cold. The AP pump takes NLGI 000# to 0# and the ZD takes NLGI 000# to 2#; the SD2 distributor works from −20 °C to +80 °C. See choosing the right lubricant for the grade to specify.
Will it survive under a chassis?
The AP pump housing is rated IP55 against dust and water for mounting on a chassis rail exposed to road spray, and its polycarbonate reservoir lets the level be checked without opening the unit. A level switch is fitted as standard so a low reservoir is flagged rather than found.
Can it be retrofitted to a vehicle already in service?
Yes, and most of our chassis work is retrofit. The existing grease nipples are replaced with pipe connections fed from the distributor, so the running gear itself is not modified. Point count and pipe routing decide the pump and the number of distributor blocks.
How often should the system cycle?
On a time programme or from the vehicle controller, set so each point gets its dose within the interval it would have been hand-greased at. The ZD pump can be driven from an external PLC or its own timer; commissioning guidance covers setting the interval and proving every outlet on first fill.
Do you supply vehicle builders in India?
Yes. We supply vehicle and trailer builders and fleet workshops across India, engineering the pump and distributor package to the chassis layout and point count. Send us an enquiry with the vehicle and the points you need fed.
Building or running vehicles on a greasing round?
Tell us the chassis, the points you want fed and the supply voltage, and we will come back with the pump, distributor and pipe package that fits, for one retrofit or a production line.