Upper ball joint Boot Leak

[achha64]

Hi,

I have a upper ball joint leak, seems like the grease is out now. As its start to squeak. I will have a 600 Kilometers soon. Can I just grease the boot or I need to replace the upper ball joint?

Thank you

AT

 

[jmildoc]

I had one of mine rip, I bought a cheap joint on amazon it was like $10 or less and used just the boot. once you take old boot off and inspect it if its still in good shape, no reason to put a new one in.

 

[achha64]

I had one of mine rip, I bought a cheap joint on amazon it was like $10 or less and used just the boot. once you take old boot off and inspect it if its still in good shape, no reason to put a new one in.

Is it tricky to take out the boots?

Thank you

 

[jmildoc]

no not really, i did mine with the UCA off, was replacing bushings already.

need sockets, and pickle fork and always good to have a big hammer handy.

 

[Nelsonmd]

no not really, i did mine with the UCA off, was replacing bushings already.

need sockets, and pickle fork and always good to have a big hammer handy.

Just be careful not to damage the metal if you use a pickle fork. I think better to use a pitman puller, less damage. If it's really stuck, put the pitman on there and either start torching the UCA, or hit the UCA with a hammer to try to break it loose.

 

[jmildoc]

IIRC i just used a hammer and put an extra nut on the upper ball joint bolt and hit it to break it loose.

 

[amalik]

The UBJ requires a press to take out from what I've seen, unlike the LBJ, so I wouldn't necessarily label it as 'easy'.

Also, I don't think the OEM UBJ has a 're-grease' zirk AFAIK.