How to Grease Sealed Ball Joints
How to Grease Sealed Ball JointsDo you need to know how to grease sealed ball joints? There are a few ways to do this, and we will go over them in detail. Greasing your ball joints is important because it helps the joints stay lubricated for longer than if you were just using oil or soap and water. This article will help you understand the difference between sealed and unsealed ball joints and show you how to grease both types of ball joints properly.
Tools That Needed
- A Grease Gun
- Grease
- Flexible Hose
- Rag or Paper Towel
- Socket Wrench or Ratchet with Various Sizes of Socket Extensions and Adapters
- Wrenches (various sizes)
- A Breaker Bar (Optional, but helpful for removing stuck bolts.)
Steps to Grease Sealed Ball Joints:
First, put your car up on jack stands. This is important because you will need to spin the wheel and turn the steering knuckle. Make sure your car is secure before you start working on it because if anything were to happen while you are under there, it not only would be dangerous but could also cause damage or injury to yourself or others around.
Next, use a breaker bar with a socket wrench appropriate for the bolt on top of your ball joint. Remove the bolts and then remove the big clamp that holds both sides together.
Now that you have everything apart take a quick look at each side to see which one might need grease more than the other one does. If there is any visible rust or if it looks like something broke in it, it may need grease.
Now that you have chosen the side to be greased take your rag or paper towel and apply a generous amount of high heat bearing grease into one area on each side of the ball joint where there is not any rust present. You want enough so that the entire inner workings are completely coated with grease, but do not overdo it. Too much grease could just cause the joint to seize up or even break completely due to too much pressure being applied by the excess lubricant.
Once you have gone through this process, take your greased rag and wipe off any excess grease from around ball joints so that there are no drips anywhere on the outside of the ball joint.
Now that you have applied the grease put the ball joints back together and tighten your bolts to 40-50 lbs of torque (foot-pounds). Do not overdo it on these either; if they are too tight, they will start putting pressure on other components in your suspension system which could cause damage or even break something else.
Lastly, get back under your car and spin the wheel to make sure everything is moving smoothly. If you feel any sort of vibration or resistance when turning, this could indicate that there was not enough grease applied where it needed to be and too much on some other part causing a problem elsewhere in your suspension system. In this case, you will have to take it all apart again and add more grease where needed.
Once you are sure everything is moving the way it’s supposed to, put your wheels back on and lower your car from the jack stands. You can now drive around for a few days before having to check again on how much grease might still be left in there, but if you feel any sort of resistance or vibration when turning the wheel, you will need to add more grease.
Now that your car is back on the ground take a quick look at all of your bolts and make sure they are tight enough so that there is no movement anywhere in your suspension system. If everything looks alright, go ahead and start your car to ensure that the wheel is still spinning smoothly.
If you are satisfied with how everything looks or if there was no resistance when turning then go ahead and close up all of your panels, put away all tools used for this job, clean up any messes made along the way, check on anything else under your hood while you are in there, and make sure to take your car back off of the jack stands.
Once you have put everything away for now, go ahead and call it a day while feeling good about yourself because you just did something worth being proud of!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If your car has closed ball joints, you’ll need to lubricate them from time to time to keep them working properly. Here’s how:
1. Jack up your car and support it on jack stands.
2. Remove the grease cap from the ball joint.
3. Clean out the old grease and dirt from the ball joint with a rag.
4. Put some new grease into the ball joint, using a grease gun or similar tool.
5. Work the new grease into the ball joint by moving it around with your fingers.
6. Replace the grease cap and lower your car back down to the ground.
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