# Ball Joint Help (pictures included)



## WideTrack (May 7, 2008)

OK...What did I do wrong? I installed ball joints a couple of years ago. Car is not together, just the frame. They sat in my garage for a year and the rubber on the ball joints is all torn up. I torqued the castle nuts down to spec from the manual. What went wrong? Did I tighten them down too far? Uppers are fine. Lowers are all smashed down. Please help...


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Sometimes, when the suspension is over extended due to no weight being on it, the grease cups get stretched or pinched, and fail quickly.....


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

fully greased? torque spec looks like too much or not done when vehicle was back on the ground or boots put on wrong. just buy new boots now.


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## 69Goatee (Aug 14, 2009)

Lower ball joint boots have steel ring molded into it, it is supposed to be pushed down over the edge of the ball joint cartridge (silver seen under the boot in the picture). Yours got smashed and stress cracked from being dry and not installed right. As they sit now dirt, water and crap will get in there and ruin the ball joints. Replace them with a set of poly boots, and they should last alot longer. Enjoy!


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## WideTrack (May 7, 2008)

Thanks for the replies: 

So I should be able to take that silver ring off? Compress the spring, unbolt the steering knuckle from the lower ball joint and I should be able to replace the boot without replacing the ball joint? 

The ball joints were pressed into the A-arm when it was off the car and there was no weight on the bare frame that's been sitting for at least a year. Also, no grease in the joint. Any installation tips to prevent me screwing this up again?

These ball joints were from PST if that makes any difference.


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Yes you can install new boots the way you descibed. Those just rotted out. Just another reason to drive them. lol The ball joints are tapered and the spindle is to. The chance of pulling the ball joing farther in is slim. Stripping the nut or bolt or stressing it til it cracked is more probable.


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## 69Goatee (Aug 14, 2009)

The silver part is the ball joint cartridge that was pressed into the lower arm. Yes , the boot can be replaced without replacing the joint. Just make sure the new boot is all of the way down over the silver part. Some lower boots have a slot molded into it, this faces toward the spring, away from the brakes. I replaced all of my rubber boots with red poly from Energy Suspension about a month ago. All greasable fittings and joints need to have grease in them at all times, it keeps the moisture and junk out, and keeps the rubber boots and seals supple. Enjoy!


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

facn8me said:


> Yes you can install new boots the way you descibed. Those just rotted out. Just another reason to drive them. lol The ball joints are tapered and the spindle is to. The chance of pulling the ball joing farther in is slim. Stripping the nut or bolt or stressing it til it cracked is more probable.


Agree, overtorquing on a tapered shaft won't hurt the boot. Cars run for years without seals at all, and new cars never get greased, no fittings on the ball joints. So, yours brand new with bad seals, just grease them or replace the seals and grease them. The joints aren't hurt and don't need replacing. New cars only get a shot of grease and go 100K, so yours can also.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

My bet is that you did not damage the boots. It's just some more of that new bad quality rubber. As I said in another post, my friend's '67 we finished up recently had all of the brand new rubber on the suspension rot, crack, and fall off....and the car was not even operable. O miles. He ended up using old rubber boots he had on hand and no problems. If you tore the boots up during the install, you'd have seen the damage immediately. If it was me, I'd remove the ball joints and return them for a refund/or quality replacement parts. Or at least install synthetic "good" boots, since the black rubber boots no longer seem to be made to last longer than 6 months. Funny, because when I recently replaced the original upper ball joints on my '67 at 240,000 miles and 43 years of use, the boots were still in mint condition....the joints themselves were worn out. They don't make rubber like they used to.....


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## WideTrack (May 7, 2008)

> As I said in another post, my friend's '67 we finished up recently had all of the brand new rubber on the suspension rot, crack, and fall off....and the car was not even operable. O miles. He ended up using old rubber boots he had on hand and no problems.


Thanks for the insight! You're right, there was nothing wrong with the boots when I installed the control arms and steering arm. And the joints were pressed in on the bottom by an old guy who knew what he was doing and I didn't damage anything bolting the top ones in. And a couple of years later I notice what you see in the pics.....I think I'm going to use some of those poly boots that 69goatee mentioned. Thanks again for the info, I thought I screwed them up somehow. Next stop is Eaton Springs across from where the old Tiger Stadium used to be to get some rear coils.


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