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Question about keeping dirt out of ball joints

I've had two mechanics tell me that wether its a dry front end ball joint or one that is enclosed in grease-

If you coat the ENTIRE assembly -the rubber boot included-with a great big gob of grease- you will keep dirt away from the ball and socket. They say road dirt tends to adhere to the outer surface of the grease and since the grease is not moving around and can get into the ball and socket surfaces- the ball joint is pretty much protected and GOOD FOR LIFE ! As long as you don't move the grease off by washing- you can carefully re-coat it with grease if necessary.

Three mechanics told me that grease DOES NOT degrade a dry ball joint socket (like on Saturns)- so there is nothing to prevent you from poking a small hole in the rubber boot and injecting grease into the socket itself-then coating the whole thing on the outside with grease.

Anyone want to agree or dispute this?

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Reply to
misterfact
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One reason for early failure of ball and socket style joints is a breach in the weatherseal........ Coating the outside of the ball joint with grease is just going to make things messy and add to the chance that grease may contaminate our brake pads. Personally, I couldn't see myself crawling around under a car smearing grease over a bunch of stuff after every rain or bout with mud or heavy dirt. Ball joints, by design, are what are deemed as "sacrificial" parts..... from day one, they slowly wear out and there's not much to be done.

Climate, local conditions, usage and (of course) manufacturing quality control all team up to determine the lifespan of any of these joints and, in the case of "sealed - for - life" assemblies, there's not a lot we can do to change the life span.

An interesting note...... I have seen trucks used similarly and equipped with greasable joints..... the one with snot-hangin' grease (indicating breached seals) lasted about half as long as the one greased sparingly yet regularly - just food for thought.

My take.... I'll have a cold one while I watch you smear grease all over everything 8^)

Anyone else have a different experience with the practice??

Reply to
Jim Warman

No argument from me Jim. You defintely have this right. Grease makes a crappy weatherseal. That's why balljoints always fail after the rubber seal is broken or dislodged. The grease does wash away (probably due to mechanical action more than chemical) and you then are running metal on metal.

Properly greasing joints so that the seal does not pop is the key (for those equiped with fittings that is)

-Fred W

Reply to
Fred W.

I was concerned about my son's Ranger when I discovered the ball joints could not be greased. He has over 160,000 miles on it now and never an alignment or tire wear problem. If the things can last up to 200,000 miles without greasing them, then you can't ask for more than that.

Mark McCoy McCoy's Market Bumpus Mills, Tennessee

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Reply to
MMccoy01

The roads you drive on down in Tennessee must be perfect as to never had an alignment! Here in Pittsburgh, I'm getting my alignment checked every 6 months.

Reply to
Xx

I can understand that those rubber boots will expand and degrade when grease gets around them. What about tying a heavy plastic bag around the whole ball joint. Wouldn't this keep dirt out? Might have to replace the bag every 6 months but that's no big job. Nice to hear some folks haven't had worn ball joints in 15 years on a car- but I'm sure this is the exception. Someone told me Rolls Royce ball joints never wear out. Maybe they have a better quality rubber protective boot that doesn't degrade as fast. I don't know.

Reply to
misterfact

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