Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

Provided by www.ACkits.com

We've updated our forums!
Click here to visit the new forum

Archive Home

Search Auto AC Forum Archives

Moog Ball Joint Dust Boot

jbrooks26 on Mon May 08, 2006 1:19 AM User is offline

Hey Guys, I was going to post this on BAT but it is restricted for me here at work. So, here is my stupid question, anyone ever have any trouble getting the dust boot onto a Moog ball joint? I put a new upper ball joint on my 99 silverado, but for the life of me I can't ge the dust boot to slide into place on the large end of the ball joint. It has been machined down with a lip at the top and looks to me like the boot should seat against that lip but I fought it for about 2 hours with no luck. Finally had to put it back together so I could get my garage closed up for the night and go to work. Just wondering if anyone had any tricks that they could share with me, I still need to do the other side too. I thought about taking the boot back off and cleaning it up again, then heating it in a small toaster oven for about 5 minutes to see if it would fit better then, what do you think?

Josh

NickD on Mon May 08, 2006 7:03 AM User is offline

Our aftermarket guys around here seem to have three different versions of ball joints that can range for example in the 25-75 buck price range, the cheapest use a tin plate to hold on the boot that rusts away in 2-3 years letting all the grease leak out, the most expensive is lubricated for life, whatever that means. Also these joints come in an unsealed box with a lid that anyone can open and close and no telling what is in there. I bring my old part in and match it up and the counter guy had to go back several times as the box he brought out was missing parts. Normally the boots in the mid class joints come installed even with a metal band around it, you shouldn't have to struggle to put them on and your joints may even be a mix up either at the manufacturer or jobber level.

Don't fool with them, take them back. One mod I have done on joints that don't have grease fittings is to install them, only takes a minute using a drill press, they seem to last longer when lubricated. Never removed a joint yet that was well lubricated, normally all the lube is gone and dried up and rusty on the inside. Same with sealed ball bearings.

jbrooks26 on Mon May 08, 2006 7:34 AM User is offline

Nick,

A torn boot is my reason for changing these joints, both of my upper ball joint boots were torn and would not hold grease. I was going to replace just the boots but decided that they had 140000 miles on them and it would not hurt to replace the joint. Anyway, that is beside the point. I bought two of these joints and they both have the same parts in them. I find it unlikely that they would have both been messed up at the factory. There are no metal clips or anything like that to hold them on, but they do feel like they may have some sort of metal inside the boot where it attaches to the ball joint. The large opening is very stiff. To you think it might help to put them into hot water for a minute before trying to install them? I will try to dry fit the other one before I pull the passenger side out and try to replace it. Thanks for your help.

Josh

NickD on Mon May 08, 2006 8:11 AM User is offline

Recall a boot like that with the metal on the inside, what I did was grease the inside of the boot and outside of the joint lip, found a large socket that was about the same diameter as the outside edge of the boot, put it in my six inch vise and pressed it on. But still don't know why these boots were not installed at the factory. Trying to find a replacement boot for anything is like trying to find that needle in a haystack, had a Chrysler product once with a torn rack and pinion boot, only options offered to me was to buy the entire rack and pinion, screw that, cost more than what the car was worth.

jbrooks26 on Mon May 08, 2006 3:58 PM User is offline

I believe that they were not installed at the factory because they are press fit replacements. The boot would hang over the outer edge of the joint and would be dammaged during the installation. Thanks,

Josh

Tennessee_Timmy on Mon May 08, 2006 6:09 PM User is offlineView users profile

don't know about Moog, but I did a set of press fitted lower ball joints a while back on my son's truck, and had a very similar problem as you describe. all i remember now is that was a pain. seems like I ended up first lightly greasing the inside of the boot, then using 2 sets of large slip joint pliers and pulling down on opposite sides of the ball joint at the same time. i like nick's idea of a socket too, although i don't have one that big.


-------------------------
Good Luck 2 ya,
Timmy

Bigchris on Tue May 09, 2006 5:05 AM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: Tennessee_Timmy
i like nick's idea of a socket too, although i don't have one that big.
Pipe nipple?

NickD on Tue May 09, 2006 8:25 AM User is offline

I had to invest in a 3/4" drive set when doing work on farm equipment and semi's, that is gone, but the tools are still here. Kind of recall the stem of the joint fitting through that large 3/4" square hole in the socket and maybe used a large c-clamp instead of the vise. Never liked using hammers on a machine but had no choice to remove the large calipers on my motorhome project. How anyone can put new calipers on rusty support guides is beyond me. With everything cleaned and lubricated, just needed my hands to put it back together again.

Should have known by buying an 82 GM product, half of it would be SAE and the other half metric, that drives me crazy, but the thought of escaping from all this cheap way overpriced electronic crap was intriguing. Still a whole bunch of wiring in these old things, especially if you have to redo the entire system. Ha, recall finding a NOS complete wiring harness for my Model A that I could put in my pocket, maybe I didn't go back far enough.

Back to Off Topic Chat

We've updated our forums!
Click here to visit the new forum

Archive Home

Copyright © 2016 Arizona Mobile Air Inc.