We get it. We’ve all been there. You know that there are things like ball-joints that need periodic greasing as part of regular maintenance, or there will be serious consequences down the road. Still, you never seem to get to it.
For many drivers, this comes down to simply not having the right tool for the job. We can help you with that. Keep reading for our picks of the best grease guns to buy for your car in 2020.
How to Choose A Grease Gun
Grease guns dispense grease, but the way they dispense grease can vary wildly. It’s important to get the right grease gun for the jobs you want to do, not necessarily the “best” gun. Here are the things you need to know to determine if a grease gun will suit your situation.
Power Types
The biggest difference between grease guns concerns the way they are powered. The following are the three most common, but there are some weird ones here and there that don’t fit into any category.
Manual
Powered only by “elbow grease,” manual grease guns are portable, cheap, and work for most situations. You’ll get a serious workout if you have a lot of fittings to grease, though.
Manual powered grease guns come in two different styles. Lever style guns can build a lot of pressure and are better for heavier duty applications. Check out this one we recommend.
Pistol style grease guns, like our number one pick, are easier to use than lever-style ones. Mostly because you can operate them one-handed. They take longer to build pressure and usually can’t build higher pressures like the lever style ones. They do tend to be cheaper. The lower cost and easier operation make pistol style grease guns the most common guns you’ll come across.
Pneumatic
In ye olden days of, well, not that long ago, air-powered grease guns were the choice of shops and professional mechanics everywhere. If you have to do a lot of greasing, letting an air compressor do all the actual work makes a lot of sense. You do, however, need an air compressor and a hose to be attached too. Those limitations have led to battery-powered guns taking over as the gold standard. They are still prevalent in small and medium shops and are very reasonably priced. Just check out this Azuno product we recommend.
Battery Powered
Battery-powered grease guns combine manual style guns’ portability and convenience with a pneumatic gun’s wrist saving automation. Battery technology has advanced to the point where these guns last through an entire workday on a single charge and have the power to rival anything else. The only reason that everyone doesn’t own one is the price. Even inexpensive battery-operated grease guns like the DeWalt we recommend are still hundreds of dollars more than their hand-powered competitors.
Size
After you’ve decided how much labor you want to do, you have to decide how much grease you need to do the jobs you have.
- Tiny- There are grease guns made for very small jobs. The Astro Pneumatic on our list is the perfect companion for assembling motors.
- Small- Standard grease tubes come in two sizes: 3 oz and 14 oz. 3 oz guns like our budget pick are perfect for small jobs and the occasional bigger job.
- Medium- This group describes most trucks, small tractors, and shop machinery. Most guns, like our overall pick, fit this category.
- Large- If you need to put out a lot of grease in a short amount of time, guns like the Milwaukee we recommend can really put out a lot of grease.
Putting it All Together
Take a moment and really consider what kind of jobs you will need to do with the gun. If you just have a car that needs some suspension work every so often, a small or medium-sized gun you operate by hand will probably be fine. If you need to work on an entire fleet of vans, you’ll probably want something you don’t have to pump by hand.
Before we get to the reviews, do note that it’s not the right choice to just get the biggest and best. First off, a big grease gun can be really unwieldy if you are working in tight spaces. Second, different types of fittings and application methods require different pressures. We’ll talk more about that in the section at the bottom of the article here, but if you are greasing something like a bicycle, there is a very real possibility that a heavy-duty lever style gun can blow apart the bearings.
Top 10 Best Grease Guns 2020
1. Best Overall Pick: Heavy Duty Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
The Bravex Heavy Duty Grease Gun is a pistol style gun, which means you operate it by squeezing a big trigger repeatedly. You can use it one-handed, which is really nice if you need to reach into a tight area. It also comes with a few different fittings so you can get the best angle on a grease spot possible.
The Jobs It’s Built For
The Bravex Heavy Duty is a general purpose grease gun. The long hose can get into small spaces, and the 14oz reservoir means you can grease an entire Humvee in one stint. Although, a lever style like this one or a battery-powered deal like this one would be better if you are a Humvee enthusiast. That would save you from the severe hand workout that the pistol-style demands.
Our Thoughts
Don’t know what you need? Get this one. It’s cheap, works in a ton of situations, and is durable enough to last through at least a few years’ worth of tune-ups.
It’s not the best at anything. The pistol trigger-style will leave your hand aching if you have to do a bigger job, and there are definitely higher quality guns that are the same style. The Lincoln pistol type will outlast this Bravex, especially if you are doing a lot of greasing. For the average person, though, the quality is perfect, and the price is even better.
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Good quality for the price
- Very versatile
Cons
- There are better options for large jobs
- Could be more durable
2. Best Battery Powered Grease Gun: Dewalt 20V Cordless Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
You hook the hose up to the grease fitting you want to fill with grease and then squeeze the trigger. An electric motor will do all the work. Add in the fact that the hose is 42” long, and you have a tool that you don’t even have to hold. Just set it on the ground and pull the hose over to your fitting.
The Jobs It’s Built For
The best thing about a battery-powered grease gun is that you can use it all day without needing to see a chiropractor after. In this case, all day means 16 cartridges per battery charge. If you have not greased things before, just trust us when we say that’s a lot. You could start at one end of your street and start greasing everyone’s car working your way to the other end, and you’d probably still have a charge.
Long story short, if you have to do a TON of greasing, whether it’s tractors or muscle cars, the DeWalt is there to see you through the job.
Our Thoughts
If you don’t have to do a lot of greasing, the DeWalt may be overkill for saving a few minutes of manual labor. This may be worth it to you. Body parts are hard to replace, after all. It’s just that the average person will be able to do everything they could ever want to do with a cheaper, manually operated grease gun without too much effort.
The lever style gun we recommend can build the same pressure, hold the same amount of grease, and costs a quarter of the price.
Those few minutes saved become hours saved if you have a lot of equipment that needs grease, though. You can put the DeWalt unit in your truck, drive out to the field, and grease the tractor, the plow, the blades, and the harvester all on a single charge. That’s pretty damn incredible.
Just be sure to keep it primed and clean.
Pros
- Really good value
- The battery lasts a long time
- Easy to use
Cons
- Will jam if you don’t keep the filter clean
- Not as expensive as the Milwaukee, but still really expensive for a grease gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
To use this grease gun, you hook the hose up to the zerk fitting and you squeeze the trigger. It goes “whirr whirr whirr” and pumps grease at 10000psi. You read that right. That means you have to pay attention, or you will push grease throughout your entire machine in a matter of seconds.
Now we don’t want to be rude, the DeWalt also claims it can do 10k psi, but the hose on the Milwaukee gives you the confidence to actually try it.
The Jobs It’s Built For
This thing is for big jobs. It’s just like the DeWalt, but more hardcore. The pressure is higher, the flow is faster, and the hose is 4ft long instead of almost 4ft long. It even weighs more and has more steel bits. Have an entire fleet of tractors that need greasing every day? No problem, the Milwaukee can burn through 10 cartridges per charge.
Oh, and it can do little projects too. You can dial back the grease output and use it for your dirt bike. You know, after you finish lubing everything else on your block.
Our Thoughts
We are really into being truthful, so we are just going to come out and say this: the DeWalt is a better value. The Milwaukee system is expensive, the battery doesn’t last as long, and it’s heavier. If you are on the fence, get the DeWalt battery gun.
There are two main reasons to get the Milwaukee grease gun over the yellow one, though. First, if you value quality over everything else and are willing to pay the extra one hundred dollars for it, go for it. You won’t be disappointed. Second, you already have a bunch of Milwaukee tools, and you won’t have to buy batteries. We know how fierce brand loyalty can be. If you are already a fan of Milwaukee tools, don’t let us or DeWalt come between you and the M18 system.
Pros
- The hose is really nice
- Durability is unmatched
- Can build a ton of pressure
Cons
- Expensive
- The battery doesn’t last as long as the DeWalt
4. Best Heavy-Duty Manual Grease Gun: Alemite 500-E
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How It Works
Unfortunately, by starting with the way it works, we are starting with the worst part about it. To fully utilize a lever action grease gun, you need three hands. One to hold the fitting, one to hold the gun, and a third to actuate the lever. Last time we checked, most people don’t have three hands, so you end up compromising and doing things like holding the hose in place with your hip. You’ll just wish the hose was long if you are using the hip method. It’s easier to get in close with other grease gun styles, the lever style works better further away.
The good news is that extra leverage makes it really easy to operate. You don’t have to use much effort to work the lever, especially compared to a pistol style gun, and it builds way more pressure in the same amount of time.
The Jobs It’s Built For
Really, at its core, the Alemite is just another general-purpose grease gun. It’s good for everything the Bravex gun is good for. It’s just a lot more industrial. Rusty, clogged fittings that have been abused for years will benefit from the extra pressure that the Alemite can generate, and the ability to use all sorts of loading methods means you can load the gun using barrels of bulk grease.
Our Thoughts
In the world of grease guns, there are some bigger players. Lincoln is probably the most well-known, and we do recommend both their pneumatic and pistol style grease guns. Alemite is a lot like Lincoln in terms of quality, but they tend to be a bit more hardcore in terms of function.
That comes through in a few ways. First, they build their guns around bulk loading. You can use cartridges, sure, but you can also use a loading pump, unlike many guns. It’s a tool, available here, to pull grease directly into the gun from bulk pails in a short amount of time.
Second, this particular lever-actuated gun can build 10000psi of pressure. That’s the same amount of pressure as the very expensive Milwaukee electric unit. You can blow apart bearings if that’s what you want to do for some reason. We don’t recommend it, but it makes for good visual representation.
Pros
- Easily builds a lot of pressure
- Less tiring to use than a pistol style
- Good quality
Cons
- Needs two hands to operate
- The hose could be longer
5. Best Budget Pick: Horusdy Mini Pistol Grip Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
It works just like any other pistol style grease gun in basic function. However, unlike standard guns like the Bravex, the reservoir tube is the handle. That makes it a lot more compact. You couple that with the fact that it’s only a 3oz reservoir instead of a 14oz, and you have a lightweight, easy to use gun that can fit almost anywhere.
The Jobs It’s Built For
The 3oz reservoir means that you really won’t want to use this for a project that needs a lot of grease. It’s perfect for small jobs and the occasional medium job, though. You have a go-kart that needs a full service? It’s fine for that. Greasing the suspension on your Honda Civic? No problem. Greasing an entire backhoe? You’d be way better off with something like the Lincoln gun here, but it can do it.
That’s the big advantage of the Horusdy Mini over other tiny grease guns. It is compatible with standard zerk fittings, so you can use it on bigger machines. There isn’t really enough pressure for heavy equipment unless they are in pristine condition, and it holds so little that it will take forever, but it can be used in a pinch.
Our Thoughts
A little gun like this is the absolute perfect thing to keep in a toolbox at all times, even if you have another larger gun. It can be used in most situations; it’s just not the best for large jobs. That makes it the perfect backup.
Of course, if you only need to do small projects, you don’t need to treat it as a backup. It can just be your main grease gun, and that’s awesome because they are really inexpensive. Just do your sanity a favor and don’t read any of the instructions it comes with. Watch a YouTube video instead, like this one.
Pros
- Easy to operate
- Fits neatly into most toolboxes
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Not enough pressure for using on heavy equipment
- Only holds a 3oz cartridge
6. Best Pneumatic Grease Gun: Lincoln 1162 Fully Automatic Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
To use an air-powered gun, you first have to connect it to an air hose connected to an air compressor. You need at least 60psi to really make the grease gun work well. Then just connect the gun to a grease fitting and squeeze the trigger.
The nice thing about the air-powered guns is that they are a lot more lightweight than the battery-powered equivalents. Usually, if you have a unit like the DeWalt gun we mention, you’ll want to set the gun down in the dirt, attach the hose, then reach down and squeeze the trigger. The Lincoln Pneumatic Gun is much easier to use than a standard grease gun. Just lift it up with one hand, attach, and squeeze.
The Jobs It’s Built For
A pneumatic gun is really a shop tool. Since you need to power it with an air compressor, it’s not portable like all the other types are.
That being said, if you have an air compressor, you can work all day without succumbing to fatigue. It’s lightweight, can dispense grease continuously, and is really easy on your hands to use. If you have a lot of equipment that needs servicing or just don’t want to put the sweat into the job, a pneumatic gun is a great investment.
Our Thoughts
Lincoln is famous for its lubrication tools. If you ask around any job site or shop, you’ll find a lot of loyalty to the brand. That’s because they make great products and have for a long time. They even have the honor of being the only brand to appear on our list twice. First with this entry, and again with their high-quality manual powered gun here.
The only thing that can let you down is the tip. The hose fittings are not standard, so grab another one like this one here to make your life easier. Truthfully, and we’ll say it again in the tips and tricks section, you should consider doing that for any grease gun.
Pros
- Lightweight, especially compared to the battery-powered brethren
- Easy to use
- Good quality
Cons
- You need an air compressor to use it
- The fittings could be better
7. Best High-Quality Pistol Grease Gun: Lincoln Lubrication 1134
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How It Works
Like any pistol style grease gun, you connect the hose and squeeze the trigger repeatedly. The Lincoln is a bit harder to squeeze, though, so you will get tired quickly if you have to do a ton of greasing. That extra work translates into extra pressure, so even though it takes more work to operate, you might be done faster. It’s tough to know whether you’ll burn more calories working an easier pump for longer periods or using a harder pump for less time.
The Jobs It’s Built For
Like the Bravex grease gun, this Lincoln is a standard, general-purpose tool. It will grease your lawnmower, and it will grease your Camry and your Peterbilt. The one advantage that the Lincoln has over other, similar style pistol grip grease guns is that it can build more pressure.
The pressure itself isn’t really the advantage; it’s all about the extra control that affords you. If you really need high pressure, get a lever style unit like this one, the extra 1500psi that the Lincoln offers over the Bravex won’t do much for stuck fittings. It will make it a lot easier to control how much grease you are putting into a fitting since you won’t have to go full force all the time.
Our Thoughts
We said it before here, but we will repeat it. Lincoln makes great products. If you want a grease gun that you can rely on for years and years, here it is. The hose is exceptionally high quality. That’s the first thing to break on most grease guns. Either cracks start to form around the fittings or splits begin to form where it bends for storage. The hose on the Lincoln is reinforced and extra durable.
It is more expensive. The price of quality is never low, so that’s expected. What isn’t as expected is that this gun might fight you a little bit. The springs are harder, and the whole thing is more intense, for lack of a better word. That can make loading it with grease and reassembling it takes more patience than other devices like the Bravex gun. Not the end of the world; just add some aromatherapy candles to your shop or something.
Pros
- High-quality
- Builds great pressure, especially for the style of gun
- Easy to fines in the right amount of grease
Cons
- Can be tricky to load
- Expensive
8. Best for Small Parts: Astro Pneumatic Tool 101 Mini Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
To use the Astro Pneumatic Tool, you first have to fill the reservoir with grease. To do that, you remove the metal cylinder and pack it full of grease by hand. We suggest using a tongue depressor; they work great as mini spatulas. There’s a great video featuring a very similar design by RJ the Bike Guy showing the process here.
After you reassemble it, prime it with a screwdriver. Just watch the video; it’s hard to explain. You dispense the grease by pumping on the button on the back. It’s easy to use one-handed, get grease into tight spots, and get small quantities onto parts.
The Jobs It’s Built For
It’s built for lubricating small things, like bike parts, or smearing a bit of assembly lube on bolts. Especially on stuff that is recessed into an area where you would normally try to poke your fingers into, and then give up and get a Q-tip and trap a bunch of loose cotton fibers into a bearing race. Don’t do that. Just get one of these little guns. You can stick the little needle right into tight areas and apply a perfect, clean dollop of grease.
The one thing to note is that these types of grease guns, including another one on our list here, do not snap onto standard grease fittings. They will not replace your bigger guns.
Our Thoughts
For less than $15, you can significantly cut down on the amount of mess you make assembling things on your bench. That’s worth it alone, but for the average home mechanic, there’s another reason. One that might make this the best sub $20 tool you buy this year.
If you have it, you will use it to keep your tools lubricated. Oiling and greasing tools is something that so many people neglect, but it’s essential if you care about keeping your tools working well for long periods. Have you ever had a fight with an adjustable wrench? Put a dot of grease on the screw, and you’ve won the battle.
Pros
- Tiny and very precise, perfect for small applications
- Holds 3oz of lube (that’s a good amount for a tiny tool)
- Easy to operate one-handed
Cons
- Can be annoying to load
- Can’t be used with standard zerk fittings
9. Best Inexpensive Pneumatic Grease Gun: Azuno Pneumatic Grease Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
It works the same as the Lincoln pneumatic grease gun; it’s just heavier and a bit harder to bleed. You hook an air hose connected to a 90psi air source up to the grease gun, then connect it to a grease fitting and squeeze the trigger.
The big thing that separates the Azuno from the Lincoln gun when it comes to operating is the hose end fitting. Azuno includes a quick connect fitting on the end of the hose. It’s a little spring-loaded tool that replaces the standard hose end and makes your life way easier since it locks onto a zerk fitting much more secure than a standard end. We wish more companies did that. It’s surprising to see one on a budget gun.
The Jobs It’s Built For
We called the Lincoln pneumatic grease gun the perfect gun for a shop. It’s great for pumping out a lot of grease, it’s great for saving your wrist, and as long as you have an air supply, it’s effortless to use. Fleets of vans are no match for a good pneumatic grease gun.
The Azuno gun is no different in function, but you won’t feel bad leaving it outside in the dirt.
Our Thoughts
For a budget gun, this thing is amazing. It comes with a quick connector at the end of the hose, just like we would otherwise recommend buying separately, and it does everything it advertises on the box. Sure, it’s not as high pressure or as nice to hold as more premium products like the Lincoln pneumatic, or even the Bravex hand pump.
But dang, it’s an excellent gun that is much cheaper than any of the big-name pneumatic guns and is almost 1/10th the price of the big battery-powered units. If you have an air compressor already, and do a lot of suspension work, it’s legitimately hard to find a reason not to give this Azuno a try.
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Great, easy to use end fitting
- Easy to operate
Cons
- Doesn’t build much pressure
- You need an air compressor to use it
10. Best Injection Grease Gun: Finish Line Grease Injection Gun
Editor’s Rating:
How It Works
At first glance, it looks a lot like the Astro Mini. That’s because the purpose is mostly the same, it’s a precision grease applicator.
The way you get the grease though the needle is totally different, though. Instead of taking off the barrel and packing it with grease, you just screw the gun onto a tube of grease. You don’t prime it with a screwdriver; you just squeeze the tube. It’s about the most intuitive tool on this list. Screw it on, pump grease out.
The Jobs It’s Built For
The gun itself is built with bicycle mechanics in mind. The small needle can get right into the tiny areas between gears and cables. That doesn’t mean you have to use it for bicycles, though. Just like with the Astro Mini, it’s great for assembly, for lubricating tools, and for general purpose greasing.
Our Thoughts
Finish Line’s mini grease gun is only unique in that it’s streamlined for use on a grease tube. That eliminates the mess of filling up a container.
Unfortunately, it’s worse in almost every other way than the Astro Tools or similar canister grease guns. The build quality is bad; grease will leak out of places it shouldn’t, and if you drop it off a bench, it will probably break.
If convenience is the absolute most important thing to you, pick this thing up. It’s tiny, intuitive and you don’t have to worry about packing and priming grease. Just don’t step on it.
Pros
- The unique loading system is very intuitive
- Very compact
Cons
- Quality could be better
- Only works with grease tubes
All About Grease Guns
Using a grease gun can sometimes feel like voodoo. They’ll stop working mid-job sometimes, or they will slowly push grease out long after the trigger is released. In this section, we will talk about how the guns work, how you can make them work better for you, and some tips to take the voodoo out of the process.
What Is a Zerk Fitting?
When you talk about grease, you’ll see the word zerk thrown all over the place. A grease zerk, or grease fitting, or if you are old-school, an Alemite fitting, is the modern connection point for grease guns. It’s basically just a ball check valve that’s only ¼” in diameter. The end of a grease gun connects right to it so you can pump grease into whatever component is on the other side of the fitting. It’s called a “Zerk” because of the guy that invented it. If you really want to know more, here’s the wikipedia entry. It’s actually pretty interesting.
Filling a Grease Gun With Grease
Except for a few specialty tools, like the Atro Mini we recommend, most grease guns can be filled in one of two ways.
Cartridges
A grease cartridge will be the way that 90% of people get grease into their grease guns. Some guns, like the smaller Horusdy Mini we recommend, can only use grease cartridges. Grease cartridges come in a few different sizes, but most guns are designed to either use a 3oz or a 14oz cartridge.
Cartridges are good because they are clean and easy. You can swap grease types easily without cross-contamination, and since each one comes sealed, there’s no chance of getting debris mixed in. They are a bit more expensive, so over time, you spend a lot more than bulk filling if you are doing a lot of lubricating.
A Quick Tip Concerning Cartridges
Here’s the big pro tip we can give you about cartridges, and after you know it, you can spend hours laughing at the negative review sections of any grease gun listing. Cartridges have two ends: one end is capped, the other end has an aluminum lid. Take the cap off, and put the tube into the grease gun barrel with the aluminum lid up. There’s a lip on the top of the tube that locks it in place when the gun is assembled.
Pull the aluminum lid off with a screwdriver or your fingers if you have fingernails, and you are ready to go. Re-assemble the gun, prime it, and enjoy a laugh at the expense of all the people who put the tube in backward and ended up with a gigantic mess.
Bulk Fill
There are two easy to fill a grease gun from a big bucket of grease. The first is with a tool that fits on top of the bucket that forces the grease into the gun using air or a lever. If you work in a big shop or own lots of tractors already, you probably already have one. If you don’t, just know that the fill tool is a lot more expensive than any grease gun and takes a very long time to pay off.
The second method is to use the fill tube to suck grease out of the bucket. This is one of those cases where it’s just way easier to see it than explain it, so just take a look at this video. He’s got a funky clear grease tube that makes it really easy to see what’s going on.
Tips for Getting the Most Out Of Your Grease Gun
Ok, you have the gun, you’ve located the zerk fittings you need to access, and you’ve filled the gun with grease. Great, here’s a bunch of tips to make the rest of the process smoother.
- Buy a better end. Your life will be so much better with a better grease end, like this one. Just trust us.
- Learn to bleed your gun. This is one of the times you need to read the instructions since each gun is different. After you read the instructions, bleed the gun. 90% of the time, when someone can’t make a gun work, it’s because there is air in it. There is air in it because they didn’t bleed it right.
- Use the right grease. The best way to know what grease to use is to google it or ask the clerk at any store that sells the grease. The standard types are pretty self-explanatory: High-speed wheel bearing grease is for high-speed bearings, wheel hub grease is for wheel hubs, etc.
- Keep everything clean. It feels like we say this in every single article, and it never gets less important. Keep the fittings clean, keep the gun clean, and keep your workspace clean.
- Be aware of over-doing it. This is another point that will require some research on your part, but lots of things are easy to over grease—especially bearings. The “grease it until it leaks” method is ok for some things, but bearings can be damaged by being overfilled.
- Grease more often. We don’t know anyone that does it, but most professionals recommend greasing the ball joints on your car every six months. Most heavy equipment has detailed maintenance schedules printed in their manuals, but sometimes passenger cars and trucks won’t. A simple google search will usually fill in any missing information.
Grease Now, Save Later
No one wants to spend all day greasing a truck, but at least you can make the job as easy as possible by choosing the right tool for the job. Isn’t it annoying how no matter what, that’s always the case? Like, it doesn’t matter what you do, everyone always says that you should use the right tool for the job, and then you have flashbacks to your father scowling at you as you round off another bolt trying to use a pipe wrench to take off a valve cover? That’s just us? Anyway, remember to bleed the gun, grease things more often rather than less often, and keep the area clean. Happy lubricating.
Source: Tools - autoquarterly.com
