Photo by Spc. Stephen Wright
Crewmen,
Out of sight often means out of mind. That’s not good when it comes to the hidden or hard to reach lube points on the cradle mount bearings of your
M109A6 Paladin.
There are 10 lube points on the cradle mount—four inside and six outside the vehicle. The four interior lube points and the two exterior lube points on top of the cradle mount usually get lubed regularly. The four on the bottom of the cradle mount are often overlooked.
The four (1, 2, 5 & 10) on the bottom of the cradle mount are often overlooked.
You have to raise the gun tube to get to those lube points. If you forget, or just don't go through the trouble of raising the gun, the cradle mount bearings go dry. Then, when the cannon is fired, the tube is scored during recoil.
To protect the bearings, lube all 10 cradle mount lube points quarterly with molybdenum disulfide grease (GMD) or general purpose grease (GGP), following the TM’s lubrication instructions operational temperature chart.
GMD comes in a 14-oz cartridge, NSN 9150-00-935-4018, or 1 3/4-lb can, NSN 9150-00-754-2595. A 1 3/4-lb can of GGP comes with NSN 9150-00-985-7316.