Sealed ball joint - newbie problems

[TommyJ1980]

Hi all - so I made a mistake and filled my upper and lower BJs with grease before installation while replacing both sets of control arms, then found out that I was going to have to get it all out of there in order to install the steering knuckle. I made an effort to get the grease out, but I absolutely cannot understand the physics of this assembly. I took the zerk fitting off thinking the grease would come back out the hole, and no. I tried to get up under the boot and wasn't successful I tried to squeeze some out, and got a tiny bit out around the bottom, then figured the weight would squeeze it out once I got the knuckle in place, and now I have the steering knuckle in place, and the boots to both ball joints are bulgin out, clearly overfilled. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[kennythewelder]

You would have to, take the king nut off, and knock it out of the spindle (steering knuckle) so you can lift up the rubber boot, so you can wipe the extra grease out of there. That's about the only way to get it out of there, but you can probably just leave it alone, and it will be ok.

 

[TommyJ1980]

Ok thanks, it’s just bulging quite a bit.

 

[454cid]

With the knuckle off the taper, I'd use a small flat blade screwdriver to carefully lift the end of the boot while squeezing the boot to get the grease out....or at least that would be my first thought. It depends on how the manufacturer sealed them. If its wired on, that probably wont work. A lot of manufacturers leave that side floating.

 

[kennythewelder]

Ok thanks, it’s just bulging quite a bit.

In time, the extra grease will work it's way out of the boot. The turning of the wheel, the bouncing of the tire, ECT., Will all help to squeeze out out the extra grease. It will have a tendency to get all over the place though.

 

[TommyJ1980]

Thanks guys, appreciate it. It is wired, on the top and the bottom.

 

[kennythewelder]

Thanks guys, appreciate it. It is wired, on the top and the bottom.

In that case, just leave it alone. A pic of it, would be nice, though. That way, we can see just how overloaded it is

 

[Caman96]

In that case, just leave it alone. A pic of it, would be nice, though. That way, we can see just how overloaded it is

This is from his other post.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[TommyJ1980]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[TommyJ1980]

You must be registered for see images attach