Ball Joints - grease?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Jon C - 01 Oct 2005 18:34 GMT

I'm replacing the ball joints (and control arm bushings) on my Grand
Am... do I need to pack any grease into the ball joint area before I put
the rubber boot and install it on the car?

Reply to this Message

Shep - 01 Oct 2005 19:10 GMT

Boot first then grease them obviously only if they have fittings ,do this
after they are installed, try not to force the grease out of the boot.

> I'm replacing the ball joints (and control arm bushings) on my Grand Am...
> do I need to pack any grease into the ball joint area before I put the
> rubber boot and install it on the car?

Reply to this Message

Mark Olson - 01 Oct 2005 19:10 GMT

> I'm replacing the ball joints (and control arm bushings) on my Grand
> Am... do I need to pack any grease into the ball joint area before I put
> the rubber boot and install it on the car?

Certainly it can't hurt to do that.

If the ball joints don't have grease fittings you might consider
adding them. It's easy to do, drill the correct size hole in the
sheet steel cover of the ball joint, and install a self-tapping
grease (zerk) fitting.

Reply to this Message

HLS@nospam.nix - 02 Oct 2005 18:08 GMT

> Certainly it can't hurt to do that.
>
> If the ball joints don't have grease fittings you might consider
> adding them. It's easy to do, drill the correct size hole in the
> sheet steel cover of the ball joint, and install a self-tapping
> grease (zerk) fitting.

You're probably right that it won't hurt anything. Probably won't help
anything either.
In some places in the world, the appearance of a leaking ball joint, as you
might get if
you got too lush with the grease, will cause you to fail your technical
inspection. Probably
not in the USA, but I have had this happen in EU inspections.

Reply to this Message

Ryan Underwood - 02 Oct 2005 02:00 GMT

>I'm replacing the ball joints (and control arm bushings) on my Grand
>Am... do I need to pack any grease into the ball joint area before I put
>the rubber boot and install it on the car?

The ones I have done either came with grease in them already (Autozone store
brand), or came with grease fittings that screw into the bottom (Moog). The
latter will need to be greased with a grease gun shortly after installation.
Don't just pack the boot with grease and expect that to be sufficient.

You may want to grease the bushings (with non-petroleum grease such as
graphite) to protect them. At the very least spray them with silicone or
vegetable oil.

Reply to this Message