jlawson435

I was over at a friends house this weekend. He has been a mechanic for about 40 years or so. He was working on a car that has sealed ball joints. He went and got a hypo needle and filled it with ATF and went under the car and stuck it in the runner boot and filled it up with ATF. Never heard of this. He said he has been doing this for years and stops the squeaking and works fine. I said why don't you just use lube gun with needle and stick it in boot and fill and he said you could but I have always done it this way.

goldie1

you can do either of those but and it is a big but if the ball joint is noisy the chances are it is all readyy worn and time to be replaced.

where i work as a mechanic we replace 2 or 3 sets of ball joints a week.
i will add we live in a small country town with lots of farms and rough roads.

ian

floater3

I'm curious as to what the model, age and mileage is on this vehicle. Also as to what type of driving that is done. ATF is a lighter lube than grease, so I would wonder about how effective it would be in severe use. Poking a hole in the boot would seem to allow water and dust in, which would shorten the life of the BJ.

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'00 CV - 136K

R.S.LOGAN

As " goldie 1 " states , usually when you hear it , it's knackered and needs replaced.

2000GMLS

I was really disappointed with my '00 GM, when I looked at the steering/suspension. Not a SINGLE GREASE ZERK! My '98 Ford van has tons of them! When my ball joints went out on that, my buddy got the new ones from NAPA, and he made sure they came with the option with grease zerks. Of course, he put them on the parts. It's so sad to see shops that will not put them on, as I know it's just more revenue for them, when they go out again. I am surprised these cars last over 200k, with the lack of grease!

I did see that the car also has sealed 'hubs' (rotors are independent). The question I have, is are those bearings in the hubs greasable? Can you take it apart like an 'old fashioned' car, and repack the bearings?

John

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2000 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (Mauarder "Clone") NEW!
1968 Cougar XR-7 302 CI 4bbl
1977 Ford LTD Landau (with fender skirts!) 400 M CI

goldie1

not really i have seen people try but not a good idea.when they are noisy it is time to replace them.

Ian