Lower ball joint leak?

[dynasty]

Hello all,
well today i was mucking around with my front lower ball joint, trying to get it loose, well i saw some grease/oil seeping through, did i wreck it? i think so, if so, how much would it be to buy new ones? Thanks

[JohnL]

Hello all,
well today i was mucking around with my front lower ball joint, trying to get it loose, well i saw some grease/oil seeping through, did i wreck it? i think so, if so, how much would it be to buy new ones? Thanks

Sounds like you've ruptured the dust boot, but it's unlikely the joint itself is damaged. Were you using a ball joint 'fork' to loosen the ball joint? It's very easy to destroy the boot with these (hard not to!). Some dust boots seem to be bonded around the base to the ball joint, and don't seem designed to be replaced.

If it's ruptured you can't fix the boot, but you can fit a new one even though you may not be able to bond it to ball joint iteslf. New boots are availabe as a generic item from auto accesories shops etc., you need to pry the old one off to show them in order to get the correct size. It's better if the boot is bonded but not essential, it will squash down against the ball joint when fitted and give an adequate dust seal.

[dynasty]

nah i was just mucking around with a flat head screw driver, lifted it up a bit, but i dont thinks its ruptured, i guess ill see when i get the damn thing off, thank you for that JohnL

[JohnL]

nah i was just mucking around with a flat head screw driver, lifted it up a bit, but i dont thinks its ruptured, i guess ill see when i get the damn thing off, thank you for that JohnL

Just keep an eye on it for any continued leakage in service, not that it really matters because if it leaks it leaks. There'd be no point in replacing the joint just because of a grease leak, run it till it dies. Just inspect it more regularly for sloppiness, which may develop earlier because of the broken boot but may not. If the joint has a grease nipple then more regular greasing would be a good idea.