Ball Joint Grease

66furys

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OK, I am blind and disabled.....and cannot find grease fittings. Anyone have comments on ball joints. Out of four.....one upper has a fitting near top. The other upper seems not to have fitting, anywhere....top bottom sides....nada. I have not found a fitting on either of the lower joints. All have boots that should be filled on occasion. Thoughts.
 
It is always a possibility that the car has original ball joints which would have had the zerk fittings broken off at the factory.
 
I believe even the service manual has the statement that after initial greasing of new ball joints to break them off
 
Well, the mopar manual talks about grease every 36k, or so....but if broken off.....not an easy task. I know the new ones pull the fittings and put in plugs, in some cases....never understood any of this.
 
I think the idea is that the original ball joints should last 3/36 and that the replacements will be greased every 3/36 thereafter.
 
Several years ago I bought some new Moogs lower ball joints (for a '71 B Body) that did not have fittings or any provisions for them. Don't know if this was a quality problem or just the way it was.
Omni
 
When the cars were produced, they were produced with ball joints which had a screw-in plug in the ball joints, like a small bolt screwed into the hole where the grease fittings were later installed. The FSM said to remove the plug, install a grease fitting, and grease the ball joint when needed. THEN remove the fitting and re-install the bolt/plug afterward. This way, no contamination could enter through that hole. Which made sense . . . UNTIL you realize that the grease fittings all had a spring-loaded ball to keep them closed when not being greased . . . AND no lube tech would go to the trouble to remove the plug, install a fitting, and then remove the fitting and put the factory plug back into the hole. Doing things as the FSM indicated was also protection against any sub-standard grease fittings being installed, too. So the default mode was to keep the ball joint with uncontaminated grease in it, according to the factory people.

But what really happened, even at the dealerships when the cars got their first lube job (whether at their first oil change or at the 36K interval), was that good quality grease fittings were installed and left there, in place of the factory plugs/bolts. IF the grease fittings got broken off, their threaded portion should still be in the joint, with a hole in the middle, which should be obvious under all of the accumulated stuff on the joint, over the years. There might well be a picture of the ball joint with the plug in it in the FSM front suspension section?

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
I blasted my undercarriage with a pressure washer before I began work.....but, there are areas with this thick gunk still hanging in But after your comments, I will look again. Thanks
 
Looked at some new lowers on line, some have fittings on bottom. Another look at mine.....nada. I will have to pull a wheel to see the upper properly....so later. Interesting....grease was the answer in the old days. Yes, many components no longer have them, including Ujoints and suspension components, but back then.....most did.
 
my 68 lowers (no clue if original) have grease fittings pointing straight down below the ball assembly...the uppers are dead center in the top pointing up...they're usually well buried in crud
 
Ummm, a super bee and a gto. This makes me think back to me hiding behind the door, and when they called out "brains", I thought they said trains and ran to catch it. I am pushing to work on my beater after over 40 yrs building ships and work in the IC.....wrong train. I may have to pull a wheel to look more closely at the uppers. Danka
 
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