Sorry, I know that sounds like a silly question.
I'm rebuilding most of the front end on my truck- all upper ball joints, all lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, bushings, and stabilizer links. The truck is a 99 Ranger 2.5L 2WD with coil springs, and these are all Moog parts, for the curious.
I got one side done, and went around putting in zerk fittings in all the parts that required them. When I got to the upper ball joint, I got about 2 revolutions in and the zerk sheared off. I was putting it in with a socket by hand (no ratchet, just the socket IN my fingers). I never felt resistance, it just broke. I'm now stuck trying to get the lower half of that fitting out so I can replace it. (of course, the ball joint is integral with the upper control arm, so this is the most expensive part of the whole build).
Meanwhile, I'm now really nervous putting in the other fittings. I made a point not to torque the rest of them down any more after they 'stopped' by hand. However, I have a few that are squirting grease up through the threads when I hit them with the grease gun. I assume that this isn't supposed to happen.
Is there a 'rule of thumb' for zerk fittings? I would assume that Moog would supply fittings that would be the right length and strength, so I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.
Thanks for any help.