leroycjr

This might be a dumb question or maybe an oversight. So I was looking at some of the DIY for spring and ball joint installation (Specifically " Lady's gets a front end job" GIGGITY sounds like **** lol).

So my question is do NEW ball joints come pre packed with grease or do you have to lube them after installation? I didn't read that part in any of the install post I looked at. It just said rivet screws, press out joint, press in joint, put back on spindle, and BOOM done. Again might sound like a dumb question just don't want to screw this up.

Highwayman

I would normally grab the grease gun and hit new joints a couple of pumps. Just enough to see the boot swell a little. Too much just leaks out, makes a mess and is a waste.

oldcutlass

I repeat this process at every oil change!

Bluevista

The ball joint boot has to be filled with grease since it's a seperate piece when you assemble the ball joint and has no grease for the joint in it. All new suspension parts have to be greased after assembly.
I just did the front end on my Custom Cruiser and I used almost a full big tube of grease gun suspension grease to top off all the fittings.

Lady72nRob71

You have to grease them after installation just until grease comes out around the boot.
I mentioned that in my thread, though it was towards the end when everything was assembled and car was sitting on its wheels.
When I did mine initially, the BJ's took about 15 pumps EACH from my little grease gun and the tie rod ends need about 8 each. The other linkage joints took about 3.
In total, I used 1.5 of the smaller grease gun cartridges!

It is good to give them all just a few pumps every 5K miles, just until you see some grease seep out.

leroycjr

Thanks to all will hopefully try to get this rolling this weekend.

jeffu231

And in case it is not widely known the ball joints should be greased with the vehicle jacked up and the load off of them so the grease can easily get all around the ball and socket.

Allan R

??? First time I've heard this. So you mean that all the times I or a lube shop greased the fittings in the past it was all done wrong? Or are you just referring to the initial greasing when they have been replaced? There's no mention of that I can find in the CSM.

Highwayman

If you want to take the load off the ball joints, you need to lift the car under the lower control arms. Jacking it from the frame won't do it.

jeffu231

You should do it anytime you grease them. When the weight of the vehicle is sitting on the joints the ball is pressed firmly up into the socket. The grease being pumped in will take the path of least resistance and shoot through just parts of it. If you have the weight off of it, the ball will pull away from the socket slightly allowing grease to flow over the entire surface and thus ensure the best chance of coating the entire surface.

Obviously making sure they get greased on a regular basis is the important part, but it's not much harder to go the extra mile.

MDchanic

First time I've heard of this as well.

And I disagree with it.
As soon as the weight is put back on the ball joints, the grease that might have gotten in there will be squeezed right out.
"Yes," you will say, "but a minuscule layer will remain to protect the surfaces."
"Fine," I will say, "but that same minuscule layer will end up there anyway, as the grease you just pumped in migrates into the same space."

If you want to do it, you won't hurt anything, but it would be hard for me to believe that you help anything by doing it that way, either.

If you grease your suspension roughly every time you change your oil, you are doing it about ten times more frequently than the average driver ever did when these cars were new, and since you are unlikely to put 100,000 miles on the car in your lifetime, you could probably never lube them a single time, and you wouldn't live long enough to see any negative consequence.

- Eric

jeffu231

I'll add a little more explanation to help support the theory I believe in and then I will leave it be.

I have seen plenty of ball joints worn to the point of failure in these older cars at 100,000 miles. I don't disagree that many of us will not come close to that with our weekend cars and once replaced with modern quality replacement parts it may never become an issue. However, I expect like me, we have other cars that we drive daily that will see 100k+. I just changed a worn out ball joint at 80k on a 2003 Ford Ranger for my nephew. If they have fittings, I normally grease mine every other oil change as a simple it can't hurt preventative measure. I was always taught grease and oil are cheap compared to parts and labor.

What helped convince me about lubing them with the weight off was the following. Once the grease goes around the ball and socket and into the boot area it really never gets back into the joint itself. The pressure and most wear zone is at the upper half of the ball in the socket. The boots are on the bottom and gravity argues against the grease migrating up into the joint. So in effect, the best way to lube the top of the joint is when it is squeezed in. And again I agree that some of it will get squeezed out when pressure is reapplied. The benefit is, as the grease is free to flow around the joint when it is applied, it also helps to flush out the old grease and any wear debris that might be in there, leaving an nice fresh layer of lubrication, however thin it may be.

I too was skeptical when I first heard it years ago from a couple of regarded mechanics, and after thinking about it, it makes sense to me. This is probably splitting hairs for most people, and I do tend to over engineer things.

MDchanic

Well... Okay.

Even though it seems like massive overkill, you know I'll try to do it myself next time I've got the car up.

- Eric

rustyroger

Just throwing in my 2 cents;
I grease my vehicles every oil change and at the beginning and end of the show season. I have the car on stands and put a couple of pumps in with the steering on full lock, then turn the steering to the opposite lock and do it again.
I bully my buddies into letting me get underneath their cars with the grease gun at the same time.
I appreciate there are various schools of thought on how to properly grease a car, most of them valid inasmuch as you can't overdo it as long as you clean up the excess when you are done, but I think my way works as well as any.

Roger.

bayarea cuttdogs

Where do I hook up greese gun to lube balljoint

rustyroger

There will be a grease nipple on the balljoint. Actually, maybe there isn't but there could be a fitting to screw one into. If this is the case get a new nipple and fit it.
Lots of later cars, and virtually no European cars have no grease points at all anymore. The ball joints come pre-lubed from the factory, when they wear out relpace them.

Roger.

blakes7

Doesn't the rubber boot squeeze grease into the joint over time and during use as the ball moves in the socket, since the boot is usually contracted until you pump in enough grease in to re-expand it? Where does the old grease go, or does it just "wear away"?

I've always greased anything with fittings, and never had to do front end work on any car that had fittings.

One thing, though. On my 71 Delta 88, it's either a centerlink joint or an inner tie rod end (I can't quite remember and it's too cold to go look), I cannot pump any grease into it. I poked a wire in the hole, replaced the fitting, and it still just won't go in. Can't even pump the handle. If anyone has any ideas, thank you.

oldcutlass

The rubber boot is nothing but a dust cover. You don't need to pump grease in to expand it because eventually it will burst.

The hole may not be all the way through on the fitting that won't accept grease.

blakes7

I meant to say that I replaced it with a new fitting.

m371961

Kinda funny about the rubber seals. Around the time they came out with the ones that when over-greased burst, I was sent to a GM factory training seminar. The GM rep said it was best to grease them until they burst. Every one I saw at the time that burst had water inside it. He claimed that the seals held water and other contaminates and it was best to burst them and flush out the grease and contaminates. I don't know what is best, but I remember him saying it.
I always grease when changing oil, figure it causes no harm, and also gets me to examine the car a little closer then just a oil and filter change.
Oh, and I prime my filter when possible.
Got a air powered greaser a few years ago. Made greasing much less of a hassle.
On joints that don't take grease, try moving the steering back and forth when greasing.

oldcutlass

Yeah I've always filled the oil filter before installing when possible.