There is no grease coming out. There is no squeaks when rotating the steering wheel. Upon pressing into the boot it deflects some with some resistance, so I believe there’s still grease within the boot. Should I bother replacing these lower ball joints at this point, or just wait for grease to come out, or symptoms of squeaks when rotating the steering wheel?
Additionally, I noticed the horizontal bushing for the LCA, has a giant crack in it. The other side is not too bad, but also has as crack. There is no loud thud when going over bumps. Should I also just keep an eye on this. The first image is the one with a rather large tear/crack in it, the other side is the second picture.
I would recommend fetching a bottle of ‘Rubber Renue’ 408c variant, and coating those boots/bushings with it. But what’s in those photos is clearly beyond that point of rescue.
Renue deoxidizes rubber and actually expands it a tad, and restores some (if not all) compliance.
Case in point:
On a vintage phono repair video, the rubber-lined idler wheel, which turns against the base of the platter inside the phonograph, was rock hard and starting to display cracks. When playing a record, the wheel would slip against the under-platter, causing the speed of the recording to wooooww and flutter. And forget about 45s or 78s, that wheel could barely maintain enough traction to spin the turntable fast enough for those speeds.
After two applications of Rubber Renue, several hours apart, the rubber on that idler wheel was softer and slightly sticky (rubber sticky), and when the blogger reassembled the phonograph, it played records of all speeds and sizes, evenly with no change in pitch. (on to recapping the amplifier board…)
The product is also good at refreshing door and other weatherstripping, for automotive and marine applications, and reducing squeaks where dried rubber meets a door panel or trim pieces.
Nothing wrong with using acronyms when typing, just as an example, type LBJ (lower ball joint) the 1st time, so readers will better know what you are referring to…
I do see LCA & UCA being used all the time on another forum I am on that as of this posting, has had 693 current members online in the last 59 minutes, lots of talk about suspension lifts and what nots… They even use AAL (add a leaf) a lot referring to adding leaf’s to the rear leaf spring packs…
SLA has been used in the automotive world since before my time, just like PSI, MPH and MPG etc, so being in the auto world, I don’t understand why anyone on a vehicle forum would think of some of these as a person… lol
It is funny how Tester (seasoned in the auto world) within 5 or 6 minutes of the OP new exactly what was meant and had posted a reply with picture(s)…
That is not the point. There are lots of non-mechanics on this forum who have some knowledge but not versed in all of the letter abrevations. Same goes for the text speaking crowd .
And there are lots of big words used on here needlessly by the smarter higher educated crowd, I am getting very good at googling those words that I have and will never hear in an automotive shop… I am sure those big words confuse the lower educated new members looking for help also…
Seems unfair to exclude anyone from a conversation who doesn’t understand the subject, but the replies are predictable: Your car is broke, find a mechanic.
