I may have just ruined brand new ball joint

[MrEvilPirate]

I got 4 new ball joints for my 2002 ranger edge 4x4 w/torsion bar suspension and 2 tie rod outer ends. Never did a ball joint before, it was a battle but I got all parts installed and everything was looking good. Got my brand new grease gun loaded up and last task was to grease the joints then throw the wheels back on.

I started with the tie rod ends pumped grease, saw some coming out, done. Great.

Moved on to the lowers. I pumped a lot of grease in there. The boots blew up like balloons. Eventually a little bit of grease started coming out of the bottom of the right hand lower. I stopped. The left hand lower none came out, but the boot was really blown up and felt very firm. I decided to move on to the uppers.

I pumped and pumped into the left hand upper waiting to see some grease. All of a sudden the top part of the boot blew out and grease started streaming out .

These are all moog BJs. the top part of the boot is wrapped in metal wire that keeps it on the ball joint. About 1/2" of the boot along the top blew out. It doesn't look good.

What the hell happened? I thought there was supposed to be a relief and you pumped until the grease came out.

There was a painted line on both of the bottom joints. I oriented this inward towards the center of the truck. Was this correct?

What to do now. Should I remove the zerk fitting so some of the grease can come out of the lower ball joints the boots are round, not "ribbed" like a CV joint boot. Very worried I just wasted a lot of time and money in parts... please help!!

 

[adsm08]

I wouldn't get too worried about it. "Too much grease" is not a condition that can acutally exists as far as I am concerned. At least not within the realm of physics that applies to our universe.

 

[Doofy]

Well, if grease is in the boot, it is in the ball joint. I'd say you over greased if you blew the boots. Just try to salvage the boot and get it back in place to keep the water and dirt out. If you blew a hole in one, clean it up and silicone it.

 

[MrEvilPirate]

Here's a pic.

How do I fix the boot? Looks like it is not meant to be replaced. Dremel off the wire and hose clamp?

 

[MrEvilPirate]

Hmm didn't like imgur here is tinypic

 

[MrEvilPirate]

So the metal wrap at the top of the BJ wasn't nearly as permanent as I though.

Some small needle nose pliers let me pull the wires down, push the boot up, then replace the wires.

After coming home from allignment shop (Firestone lifetime was on sale 149!) I noticed the lower boot had started to relieve some of the extra grease. Looks like ball joints on Ranger Rust will be ok

I bought this truck for 2500 with 150k on it. Had to do shackles/spring hangers in rear, and now I've done all BJs and outer tie rod ends.

Need to replace a rear door latch, change coolant, and investigate severe wind noise from passenger side, and replace timing chain tensioners as preventative maintenance and I'm good. Thanks for all the help people.

 

[Doofy]

Worrying is overrated. Any safety related items, repair immediately. Other, small, nagging irritants...repair as time and money allows. Before long, you have yourself a damn fine truck. Have fun wrenching.