bearings 40 can only effectively be greased during routine maintenance when the torque limiter is tripped this is almost impossible to do manually due to very high torque limit settings often used in some applications since the bearings 40 are typically heavily preloaded and do not rotate while the torque limiter remains locked heavy wear can result as the grease over time tends to migrate out due to rotation of the assembly and consequently the bearings 40 become dry referring to fig3 and 4 a torque limiter 54 according to the invention is shown this includes a housing 56 which has a threaded extension 58 which receives a disconnect nut 60 which engages a plunger shroud 66 threaded to the upper end 64 of the plunger 28 a recess 68 in the plunger shroud 66 receives a grease fitting 70 an axial central lengthwise grease passage 72 is provided in the plunger 28 which terminates short of the drive ball 74 instead there are two cross passages 76 which connect with two pairs of offset longitudinal passages 78 that extend to an annular clearance space 80 adjacent the drive ball 74 the bushing 82 has two cross passages 84 each receiving grease from the annular space 80 and direct into the same out through down.