Suspensión replacement
- Thread starter Tilemike
- Start date
I guess I add to this discussion some more questions. Looking at replacing the ball joints in my 04 K2500. I have to confess, that early on, I messed up and over greased the ball joints on this truck. Pretty much all of them burst open. I had been used to greasing the front end until a little bit of grease comes out of the boots. But I was not expecting that the boots was actually burst. I have been good about greasing the ball joints at every oil change to make sure there is still some in there, though, recently, a couple of the grease zerks won't take grease unless I jack up the front end (relieve the load) on the ball joint first.
I am now looking for which ball joints to buy and this has me a little confused. It looks like MOOG has the Problem Solver type which even says to grease them to flush out any dirt / debris. The other brands (MEVOTECH / Delco / etc...) of ball joints look like the boots are NOT meant to relieve any grease out of them.
First question - how much grease are you supposed to use on ball joints? Are all ball joint boots supposed to allow the grease to escape?
My second question is which ball joints to purchase? Are any one of them better than the rest? I know you can purchase an upper arm for just a few bucks more than the ball joint by itself, but not sure which one to get. Looking at the price, I think the lower ball joint by itself will be quite a bit cheaper than purchasing the whole control arm assembly.
I am now looking for which ball joints to buy and this has me a little confused. It looks like MOOG has the Problem Solver type which even says to grease them to flush out any dirt / debris. The other brands (MEVOTECH / Delco / etc...) of ball joints look like the boots are NOT meant to relieve any grease out of them.
First question - how much grease are you supposed to use on ball joints? Are all ball joint boots supposed to allow the grease to escape?
My second question is which ball joints to purchase? Are any one of them better than the rest? I know you can purchase an upper arm for just a few bucks more than the ball joint by itself, but not sure which one to get. Looking at the price, I think the lower ball joint by itself will be quite a bit cheaper than purchasing the whole control arm assembly.
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Right or wrong I've been greasing ball joints, tierod ends, sway bar end links etc this way my entire life. I can't comment on the boot design of all joints but I know MevoTech and Kryptonite boots do have a "relief" hole to allow grease to escape.
On the lower joint I've also always used Moog Problem Solver joints as well as Kryptonite joints and have not had bad luck. I've seen other users have mixed reviews on the MevoTech, meaning some guys have a problem free life and others they didn't last a long time. I think this was a QC issue as it seems to have been resolved for the last year or so. The OEM ball joint may not be a bad part either, think of how long they last to begin with before any replacement is needed.
As for the upper joint I only use ACDelco, Moog, or Kryptonite replacement arms. For the few extra dollars it's well worth it to replace the arm all together as you get new bushings and have realistically no risk of the upper joint coming loose from the thin steel the arm is made from. I've always seen about a 50-50 split that the upper joint works loose after changing just the joint vs the complete upper arm since the thin steel distorts some by the pressing operation.