Possible solution to roto joint thud.
Possible solution to roto joint thud. After reading through thread after thread about thuds after roto joint installs, myself included, I may have found a solution. My car has had a nasty thud/rattle ever since I put on my UMI LCA's and panhard bar. Both pieces are equipped with roto joints. After spending months searching everything and not finding anything that could be causing the thud I finally inspected the joints themselves. I noticed that my passenger side control arm had frozen joints. The roto joints were stuck to one side and would not budge. The drivers side I could move with my hand with some force. All my noise was coming from the passenger side so I popped the arm off to take a look. I took apart the joint and both ends were completely dry of grease. I know UMI says they are pre greased from the factory, but I guess mine have been on long enough the grease is gone. Anyway, I hand packed the joint with grease instead of using the nipple and put everything back together. Lo and behold my car is quieter than my buddy's stock ws6 suspension wise. I could not believe it. Bumps that used to upset the whole car don't even phase it anymore. I also installed jeep bumpstops last night so that may have helped a little. None the less, this could be a solution to the endless thud and clank threads after roto joint install. Just wanted to share my experience with everyone.
Yeah, I know what you mean. My thud was so severe and shook the whole car I had no idea it was just grease. It seemed to simple of a fix considering how bad the sound was.
We did edit our instructions for Roto-Joint items to this now:
All Roto-Joint items are shipped fully assembled and ready to be installed. The Roto-Joints arrive with a very light film of grease, although it is not enough to maintain the integrity of the Roto-Joint during use. The end user MUST grease the Roto-Joint with 1-2 pumps only of marine type grease before use. Marine type grease is recommended due to it high resistance to water washout, keeping the Roto-Joints functioning like new over a longer period of time.
We pre-grease them for assemble purposes only. They will need greased with a grease gun once installed.
I hope that helps,
Ryan
All Roto-Joint items are shipped fully assembled and ready to be installed. The Roto-Joints arrive with a very light film of grease, although it is not enough to maintain the integrity of the Roto-Joint during use. The end user MUST grease the Roto-Joint with 1-2 pumps only of marine type grease before use. Marine type grease is recommended due to it high resistance to water washout, keeping the Roto-Joints functioning like new over a longer period of time.
We pre-grease them for assemble purposes only. They will need greased with a grease gun once installed.
I hope that helps,
Ryan
We did edit our instructions for Roto-Joint items to this now:
All Roto-Joint items are shipped fully assembled and ready to be installed. The Roto-Joints arrive with a very light film of grease, although it is not enough to maintain the integrity of the Roto-Joint during use. The end user MUST grease the Roto-Joint with 1-2 pumps only of marine type grease before use. Marine type grease is recommended due to it high resistance to water washout, keeping the Roto-Joints functioning like new over a longer period of time.
We pre-grease them for assemble purposes only. They will need greased with a grease gun once installed.
I hope that helps,
Ryan
All Roto-Joint items are shipped fully assembled and ready to be installed. The Roto-Joints arrive with a very light film of grease, although it is not enough to maintain the integrity of the Roto-Joint during use. The end user MUST grease the Roto-Joint with 1-2 pumps only of marine type grease before use. Marine type grease is recommended due to it high resistance to water washout, keeping the Roto-Joints functioning like new over a longer period of time.
We pre-grease them for assemble purposes only. They will need greased with a grease gun once installed.
I hope that helps,
Ryan
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Are these the older design without the lock screw or the newer ones with the lock screw?
They probably loosened up and needed to be tightened. When you disassembled/repacked/re-assembled you essentially tightened them up.
I used to have the previous design without the lock screw. The side plate would eventually unscrew and the joint would clunk and eventually the side plate would unscrew off and I'd have a really bad clunk from a joint that disassembled itself. All the parts were there and I was able to reassemble it with new grease.
I now have the new design with the lock screw. The side plate now doesn't move and the joint stays tight. Its a needed improvement.
They probably loosened up and needed to be tightened. When you disassembled/repacked/re-assembled you essentially tightened them up.
I used to have the previous design without the lock screw. The side plate would eventually unscrew and the joint would clunk and eventually the side plate would unscrew off and I'd have a really bad clunk from a joint that disassembled itself. All the parts were there and I was able to reassemble it with new grease.
I now have the new design with the lock screw. The side plate now doesn't move and the joint stays tight. Its a needed improvement.
The grease fittings are a standard size and any gun should fit them. Most grease guns are adjustable to how tight they fit on the grease fitting, you may just need to loosen the end to make it fit.
I hope that helps,
Thank you,
Ryan
I hope that helps,
Thank you,
Ryan
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+1, my grease gun does take some force to get it to go on, but it does fit just fine
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Thanks again!
Ryan
Are these the older design without the lock screw or the newer ones with the lock screw?
They probably loosened up and needed to be tightened. When you disassembled/repacked/re-assembled you essentially tightened them up.
I used to have the previous design without the lock screw. The side plate would eventually unscrew and the joint would clunk and eventually the side plate would unscrew off and I'd have a really bad clunk from a joint that disassembled itself. All the parts were there and I was able to reassemble it with new grease.
I now have the new design with the lock screw. The side plate now doesn't move and the joint stays tight. Its a needed improvement.
They probably loosened up and needed to be tightened. When you disassembled/repacked/re-assembled you essentially tightened them up.
I used to have the previous design without the lock screw. The side plate would eventually unscrew and the joint would clunk and eventually the side plate would unscrew off and I'd have a really bad clunk from a joint that disassembled itself. All the parts were there and I was able to reassemble it with new grease.
I now have the new design with the lock screw. The side plate now doesn't move and the joint stays tight. Its a needed improvement.
