badmfkr

iTrader: (4)

OEM A-arm ball joints are sealed is it possible to grease them?

Is it possible to grease upper and lower ball joints and OEM outer tie rods w/out drilli and tapping in a grease fitting?

thanks

transamtom

iTrader: (8)

Nope they are lifetime meaning about 100,000 miles its time for replacement.

Get some Moogs they will have the grease nipple.

badmfkr

iTrader: (4)

my 99 WS6 has 125K miles on the clock steering wheel has a tiny bit of looseness.

I've owned this car since 2001 car had 20K miles on the clock. it needed front tires when I bought it this is the only time I've ever have this car aligned after 4 sets of front tires I've finalley got uneven wear on the outside of the driver and slitely outer wear on the pass. side.

I was planning on swapping Lower A-arm bushings and ball joint, upper A-arm bushings and ball joint.

new wheel bearings, new Konie struts reuse OEM springs outer tie rods.

I had the car inspected man said worn outer tie rods so swapped in some Moogs.

I got to thinking and went to a differnt alingment shop (did'nt like the first Guy's attitude) for another inspection man said bushings, ball jionts, wheel bearing and struts where fine the old Guy talked me out of spending alot of $ how nice of him plus it's to dam hot to be crawling under the car in the driveway.

this old school shop has been in bussiness for over 100 years no new techonogly laser alingment equipment here just a four foot brown pillar unsure of exactly how it worked.


Now as far as the title of this thread goe's I not sure if I got taken $50. for alignment which usalley is $90. (at chain store shops)

and $30 to stick a needle w/ grease fitting into the grease gun and puncture the ball joint seals and fill w/ grease I can understand he filled the boot dust cover w/ grease however how will the grease get around and underneth the ball?

The man said I could buy this needle at any auto store guess I paid $30. to find out about this trick and I'm sharing it w/ you good folks.

this old Guy sure did like test driving my car about 4 times I had a 1/2 tank of fuel after the 4 test drives I had 1/4 either he spioned fuel out or was standing on the pedal don't see him racing the car in a downtown area who knows nowadays.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

^^^ the problem with piercing the boot with a needle to add grease is that you have now created a HOLE through which grease can escape.

if your over a 100k on the clock and your planning to replace half the moving parts in your suspension spend the extra bit of money and replace ALL of it, if for nothing else then the piece of mind of not needing to repay for an alignment (or for that matter the labor costs) next year when you realize the other parts could use replacing.

fleetmgr

Now I gotta admit, that's a new one on me, and I've been doing this for 40 years now. Stick a needle through the dust boot. You are correct, it puts grease nowhere that it's needed, but it does destroy the integrity of the boot.

No, you cannot grease OEM joints, at all. You can only replace them.

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

On my '94 the factory lower ball joints have grease zerks, no zerks on anything else though.

transamtom

iTrader: (8)

I think it was 95 they went LT grease less on the lowers.

The dust boot is meant to keep dirt out of the joint.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

If it is loose, grease won't tighten it up. Loose is because the metal inside is worn.

badmfkr

iTrader: (4)

the looseness that was is gone w/ the new outer tie rods I put on.

I'm trying to figure out if I got ripped off on greasing the ball joints though the rubber covers I can't see the grease surrounding the sides and bottom of the ball as it would have when forced in though the bottom zerk grease fitting.

like maybe the hot southern heat will let gravity pull the grease down and around the ball I'm thinking the grease is to thick to be moved from the top of joint and down around ball.

I'm also thinking this mechanic and his mechanic friends are all having a great big laugh about this.

I'm planning crawling under the car and gluing these tiny grease holes.

fleetmgr

You did indeed get ripped off. And if your state has any sort of governing body for auto repair shops, you should report the knuckle dragger that did this.

That's not how grease works...it doesn't "melt", assuming that the grease used is matched to the application. If it does melt, whatever it's in is toast. Grease is 70%-90% oil, mixed in with thickeners, soaps, stabilizers etc.

If you take a sponge, and get it wet, then put it in a bowl...now squeeze the sponge. Water comes out. Release the sponge, water gets sucked back in. Grease works the exact same way. Pressure squeezes the OIL in grease out of the binders, the OIL lubricates, and when pressure is released it gets sucked back in to the binders.

Have the last laugh...report them.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Ball joints aren't all that expensive. With 100K+ on the clock, why not simply replace them?

badmfkr

iTrader: (4)

OK I'm checking into automotive service council alabama (this where the work was done).


However looks like a civil law suit is in order the owner mechanic will lose a 1/2 days bussiness plus his lawyer fee if I drag his *** to court.

Get him in a jury trail (No judge) and I bet 1/2 the jury has allready being ripped off by a mechanic this is there pay back sticking it to him.

Looks like I am entitled to 3 times the mechanic damage he damaged all four of what he told me "the ball jionts are perfectly fine"
lets see the parts are'nt real expensive however the labor for removing the struts A-arms will add up quick then muliply by 3 mite be whorth it .

whats the # of labor hours on all four ball joints?
.


big job removing the front struts exspecailly in the heat.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Not really. Remove wheel, Brake hardware (makes it easier), disconnect upper ball joint, two bolts at the bottom of the shock, and the two nuts and two bolts at the top and the whole unit drops out. Not that bad to remove the assembly.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

Well, I just paid $325 in labor to have both upper and lower ball joints on both sides replaced plus new shocks and springs installed, plus replace both bushings on the upper and lower control arms on each side, to give you a frame of reference for the costs.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

First, you don't HAVE to remove the shock/spring assembly to replace the ball joints. The upper b/js are actually quite easy, although I have to confess that I have an air chisel, which greatly speeds up the removal of the rivets that hold them in place. But, a good, sharp hand chisel will also get the job done. I'd say that I could have the car jacked, the wheels removed, and both uppers done in just over an hour.

A number of people on this site have said that they had issues with bending the lower a-arms, when replacing the lower b/js. I consider b/js a 50K mile "wear out item", so I did mine a few years ago, and I don't recall having any issues with a-arm damage. HOWEVER, I have a good quality ball joint press. If you're into the job, and you've got the uppers done, the lowers shouldn't take more than another couple of hours, IMHO, but I've got 40 years of experience in doing this kind of work, under my belt.....