Ball joint boot busted!

[Chris B.]

Hi all, I have a 2003 Silverado and I just found that the upper ball joint boot on the passenger side is not sealed anymore! I filled it up with schaeffers 221#2 untill the old factory greese was squirted out if the bottom. I drive it around the block a few times to relieve the exess and wiped it off the joints so they were nice and clean. I checked them over a few days to make sure they were not still squerting and all was good! Then 2 months later the one broke. I don't think it poped but it looks like the seam has come apart from the metal if you know what I mean. I'm not sure how long it was like this but the Schaeffers 221 looked good and not dirty.

Do you think the ball joint has had any damage done because of this? I just found it today and will call the dealer to have it fixed. Thanks!

 

[Steve S]

If the seal is damaged the ball joint will wear quickly. Was it over filled when greasing?

[ May 26, 2003, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: Steve S ]

 

[Chris B.]

I might have put too much in but it was fine driving around and hitting some bumps in the road pretty hard. It did not "bleed" off any more greese after a trip around the block and up the curb once and all the boots were fine. I think the warranty should fix this. After paying $30,000+ for it I'm not paying for a new ball joint right off the bat!

 

[Steve S]

I agree !!!!!

 

[got boost?]

this is precisely why automakers went to sealed chassis grease points. people do more harm than good. when you tkae it in for warranty do not tell them what you did because they are within their rights to deny your claim. it sounds like you did in fact overfill the boot, but they can't prove it/may not realize it if you play dumb.

 

[Ray H]

Whatever did we do before the advent of synthetic grease and sealed ball joints?! I'll tell you what we did if we were smart: we greased, or had our mechanic grease, the Zerk fittings a tad (just enough to start oozing out the unsealed joint) at 6,000 mile intervals and piled on the miles well past the 70,000 mark. Took all of 2 or 3 extra minutes at every other oil change. The dummies who ignored suspension point lubing got a precious lesson in the economics of proper maintenance procedures. Now some of us circumvent the engineers' best efforts by pumping an uncompressible fluid under several thousand pounds' pressure into a sealed joint to the point the seal bursts and then attempt to blame the manufacturer for poor design or outright cheat him.

 

[Chris B.]

That is what I did...put in enough till it started to ooz. All the other joints are fine it is just the one that came unsealed. This is after I drove on the back farm roads and hit several bumps and all of the joints were ok after several days of this. Then I recheck them later and one is unsealed. If it was overfilled then it would have ruptured as soon as I hit the 1st hard bump.

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

quote:

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Originally posted by Steve S:
If the seal is damaged the ball joint will wear quickly. Was it over filled when greasing?

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Actually it wont. With a standard lithium grease I'd agree, but you'd be quite surprised as to how the 221 will work in such a situation. Not saying not to get it fixed but it's not going to wear out quick with that grease. As you noticed, the seal is designed more for holding in the grease than anything but as a secondary point, it helps keep moisture out, and normally that is very important, but with the 221, moisture wont affect it as it naturally seals the components from moisture.

 

[cryptokid]

the problem with most balljoints is not so much moisture but dirt. this wears em out quick. have worn ball joint out in a single day of 4wheelin in dirt conditions with seal was torn off by brush. although this is an accelerated condition, the same would apply to a truck used on the road, just not as quickly.

 

[D C Anderson]

I did the same thing on my 1985 Chev truck when it was new. Instead of replacing my ball joint, I greased and inspected ever time I change the oil. The inspection consisted of raising the tire off the ground and placing a pry bar under the tire and prying up on the tire looking for play. 150,000 later it is still doing fine. To keep from repeating this problem I asked around what is the correct way to lube a ball joint? The answer I felt was most correct was, 1) Take the weight off the ball joint before greasing. Another words raise the tire off the ground using a jack. 2) clean fitting. 3)Add grease while feeling the boot. When the boot feels ALMOST full, STOP. I found this to be 1 to 2 pumps every 5000 miles.

 

[Chris B.]

Thanks Anderson! I'll try that!

 

[cousincletus]

FWIW, I had an old Plymouth Volare that had a split boot on a tie rod end. I just greased it every 3,000 miles when I did an oil change and it lasted the three years I had the car. BTW, I used the cheapest Carquest house brand grease I could get at the time. Don't know how long the boot was split before I had the car.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by BOBISTHEOILGUY:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Steve S:
If the seal is damaged the ball joint will wear quickly. Was it over filled when greasing?

---

Actually it wont. With a standard lithium grease I'd agree, but you'd be quite surprised as to how the 221 will work --snip--

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Bob, how would you grease a factory fitting that has no Zerk>?
My ball-joints go out about 130-140K like clock-work, they have no Zerks and I'd like to grease them because I know they would last lots longer.
Any tricks>??

 

[eljefino]

Don't your replacement ball joints have zerks? What parts supplier are you using? What car?

 

[Brad]

In the future when you need steering or suspension items I highly recommend you buy Moog. They are built much better than stock units, and have a lifetime warranty. Of course, they also have grease zerks on them.