Control arm question

[Jayro]

I’m thinking this is going to be one of those “not the smartest”‘questions. I’ve just installed new upper and lower control arms. All went well enough. Greased the fittings etc. on the lower control arms on both sides when I pump with grease I don’t get any into the rubber boot. This normal? Is it maybe just a dust cap on the lower arm or?

 

[tony-muscle]

Strange. Are you sure you are pumping grease into it? Maybe the pump run dry or it is not completely set into the fitting. Typically as you pump grease into the ball joint it will take a few pumps until completely filled and then it will start oozing out of the boot.

 

[Sheriff41]

Agree with Tony. If you're pumping grease into it then it is going somewhere. If it's not squeezing out somewhere then it probably just hasn't filled the joint and boot yet.

 

[Jayro]

Grease is certainly pumping in. It actually began to push out at the base of that rubber boot near thiose 3 x large rivots at the base of the boot but still the boot itself is soft and clearly no grease in it. Same both sides. The top ones were different on the upper arms. They both filled fine.

 

[Sheriff41]

I would say you're good to go then. You don't need to fill them, you just need the grease in there to lubricate the joint. The function of the boot is to keep dirt and debris out and contain the grease.

 

[Ron Tanzi]

Avoid rupturing the boot. The Ford manual specifically states not to. Overfilling the joint with grease will do just that. I have worked at shops where some of the guys would just keep pumping grease into various joints until the boots exploded. It always annoyed me.

Ron

 

[tony-muscle]

Avoid rupturing the boot. The Ford manual specifically states not to. Overfilling the joint with grease will do just that. I have worked at shops where some of the guys would just keep pumping grease into various joints until the boots exploded. It always annoyed me.

Ron

Correct. On top of that if you fill the joint with grease with the car up, then when you lower it it can compress the boot and squirt a bunch of grease. The grease is meant to fill out the joint but not necessarily the boot cavity.