Ball Joint Grease Boots

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Should a ball joint grease boot be permanently attached to the ball joint?

The manufacturers say the advantage of a permanently attached grease boot is that is will keep contaminants out better. The disadvantage to the permanently attached grease boot (from my experience this week) is that the boot can pop off when filling it full of grease and there's no way to put it back on because it comes from the factory pressed on. With the regular traditional grease boot that just sits on there, you can easily put it back on if it falls off for any reason, but it won't keep contaminants out as well as the permanently attached grease boot will. Which type is your preference?
 
Permanent attached. The do eventually pop, but as long as you are not pressurizing them they should last quite awhile.
When I fill that type, I just fill until I see the boot starting to expand and stop. Since the grease is pretty well sealed in it will last to the next interval.
My CVPI has replacement joints in several places that are unsealed. A couple when I filled them started displacing rusty water out of the boot.
I guess the good thing in that case was I kept pumping grease in until all of it got out, but I think sealed would have been better.
 
Most people put too much grease in and they pop off. You just need enough grease to slightly expand the boot, and no more. If you put in 2-3 strokes each time then you have problems
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Most people put too much grease in and they pop off.


And this is why so many ball joints are ruined at a quickie lube place. If a ball joint has a jerk on it (factory or replacement), the guy will shoot grease into it, even if the boot is tight and is obviously full of grease. So then the boot will pop from being overfilled. After that, water and dirt enter into the ball joint and it soon fails. This is another reason to do the maintenance yourself.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Most people put too much grease in and they pop off.


And this is why so many ball joints are ruined at a quickie lube place. If a ball joint has a jerk on it (factory or replacement), the guy will shoot grease into it, even if the boot is tight and is obviously full of grease. So then the boot will pop from being overfilled. After that, water and dirt enter into the ball joint and it soon fails. This is another reason to do the maintenance yourself.


Its another reason not to let a wanna-be mechanic work on your vehicle at a quick lube place. Indy shops should be fine.
 
Heh heh, I will steal a good boot from a worn out joint to replace a dry rotted boot on an other wise good ball joint. I also have a needle tip I put on the gun and I can add lube to a zerk-less BJ. You can also buy new ones, but that's cheating if I have serviceable parts on hand.
grin2.gif
 
I have gotten away from greasable parts as much as possible now.
I don't see any real world evidence they last any longer than sealed units in fact the opposite is true in many cases.

I was a long time zerk hold out but when i see so many 20 year old parts still in good shape that never saw a drop of grease since the day they were made zerks don't make sense to me anymore.
Honestly, now when i see a zerk fitting and another brand has none i pass the zerk outfitted one. HD applications excluded, zerk joints have their place just not in cars anymore.

It sounds like you bought Moog with those pressed on boots and one fell off and no way is it going back on.
lol.gif

Non permanent for zerk joints.
 
I ordered ac delco control arms for my saturn from rock auto. One side had a greasable zerk fitting, the other side was a sealed unit!!
crazy2.gif
 
If some is good, lots is gooder. Bearing running hot? Pump some more grease in 'er. The only time I use my fifty year old Allstate grease gun is to pump some grease into the one zerk on my Sears thirty some year old floor jack or the one zerk on my Sears forty some year old wheelbarrow. Those two zerks are keeping that pita grease gun from going to Goodwill where it would be around for about a day.Its permanent home in the garage is a Folgers coffee can meant to keep the war department off my back about oil weeping out the cap. Doesn't matter what brand I put in it, oil always weeps out the back and has done so forever. And oil weeping out of grease reminds me of the Limitorque motor operated valves used throughout the power generating station where I worked. Those units were lubricated with 0 or 00 grease which is so light it is almost liquid. Those MOVs used in the hotter areas of the plant seemed to leak oil out every possible gasket and seal.And since oil leaks are anathema to operations types, well you write your own maintenance request.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
It sounds like you bought Moog with those pressed on boots and one fell off and no way is it going back on.
lol.gif



How'd you know? I bought two Moog lower control arms with ball joints already bolted on. I filled the left control arm full of grease before I installed it and it was fine. When I went to fill up the right control arm, the boot popped off. I then took the arm over to a place to have the boot pressed back on. I get the arm home and install it. I then pump it full of grease with the arm on the car. It ruptures. Looked like somebody sprayed cheese wiz all over the garage floor.

But if you buy the Moog ball joint separately, it comes with a removable grease boot.
crazy2.gif
 
Some do others come with one you need to press on.
Now you know one of the reasons why i have a dislike for Moog parts.
A lower joint did this to me and its the only time in my 4 decade career i had a car hold up the shop overnight for a steering/suspension part i had in hand.

Moog who sent a couple of boots out.
They gave instruction to lube it with WD40 and press it on with a ball joint press.
Needing to get this thing out i bought one with a "normal" boot and installed it.

Fast forward. The boots came and i did as they instructed and got it on half cockeyed. Tried again with the second boot in a hydraulic press and it broke the internal ring.
Call Moog again and ask whats the story with this, the answer..
We know there is a problem with some boots and we are working on a new boot.

Translated.. We know that Chinese company that made the cheap boots screwed up bad and we have a a lot out there.
We don't have a friggin clue how to handle it without losing a fortune recalling them all.

Out of curiosity i looked at some of these joints in different stores and sure enough the boots were only half on or not on at all.
Someone didn't tell Moog you cant stretch a metal ring with no split in it 1.5mm without it breaking.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I ordered ac delco control arms for my saturn from rock auto. One side had a greasable zerk fitting, the other side was a sealed unit!!
crazy2.gif


I often see situations like this with discount suspension parts. Tie rod ends and ball joints often end up this way. Sometimes when the left side and right side part are identical on the car, you end up with 2 parts that are completely different from each other.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I ordered ac delco control arms for my saturn from rock auto. One side had a greasable zerk fitting, the other side was a sealed unit!!
crazy2.gif


I often see situations like this with discount suspension parts. Tie rod ends and ball joints often end up this way. Sometimes when the left side and right side part are identical on the car, you end up with 2 parts that are completely different from each other.


They are side specific, but i know what you mean. I thought i was buying a quality part. It seems ac delco has more than one line of quality.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Some do others come with one you need to press on.
Now you know one of the reasons why i have a dislike for Moog parts.
A lower joint did this to me and its the only time in my 4 decade career i had a car hold up the shop overnight for a steering/suspension part i had in hand.

Moog who sent a couple of boots out.
They gave instruction to lube it with WD40 and press it on with a ball joint press.
Needing to get this thing out i bought one with a "normal" boot and installed it.

Fast forward. The boots came and i did as they instructed and got it on half cockeyed. Tried again with the second boot in a hydraulic press and it broke the internal ring.
Call Moog again and ask whats the story with this, the answer..
We know there is a problem with some boots and we are working on a new boot.

Translated.. We know that Chinese company that made the cheap boots screwed up bad and we have a a lot out there.
We don't have a friggin clue how to handle it without losing a fortune recalling them all.

Out of curiosity i looked at some of these joints in different stores and sure enough the boots were only half on or not on at all.
Someone didn't tell Moog you cant stretch a metal ring with no split in it 1.5mm without it breaking.


Check out this link Trav. Most all the ball joints for my car have pressed on steel banded boots.

The ACDelco does and the Raybestos does. The only one that doesn't is the Moog# K5333.

LINK
 
Trav,

The FedEx truck brought the new ball joint today. It has a pressed on boot. It looks just like the ACDelco and the Raybestos. The picture on the internet for Moog# K5333 must be an old picture. Box says Made in USA.
 
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