Grease Upper Control Arm Ball Joints

[flyingscot]

Hi - today I watched a youtube video - showing how/where to grease the UCA ball joints - went to my vehicle but no zirc fitting - has anyone got some context? - what to do? Fit zirc fitting? - photos below - red is my UCA (flat nut) - blue is the youtube vid where u can see the zirc fitting - thx in advance

 

[xplore]

The zerks don't come on the OEM parts that I'm aware of. A lot of the aftermarket ones have them, and some people drill and tap them out to install a grease zerk as well.

Perhaps someone else can chime in on whether or not some of the later year 100 series had zerks or not.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

That video is of an SPC aftermarket control arm, not an OEM Toyota control arm.

 

[LandyOverLand]

That's definitely an aftermarket arm.
Never seen them on OEM

 

[medtro]

You would need to replace your UCA to the one like in the video if you want to grease UCA ball joint.

 

[Columbo624]

Could use a grease injector needle.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

You would need to replace your UCA to the one like in the video if you want to grease UCA ball joint.

Technically, you can remove the wire and slide the boot down, pump or pack grease in, then slide boot back up and replace wire. I replaced the wire with a zip tie just for this reason.

 

[daohaus]

Technically, you can remove the wire and slide the boot down, pump or pack grease in, then slide boot back up and replace wire. I replaced the wire with a zip tie just for this reason.

That's probably the best way with OEM ball joints

 

[flyingscot]

thx everybody - am a bit wiser now

 

[flyingscot]

thx everybody - am a bit wiser now

Another item of passing relevance - I was greasing the drive shafts last night - couldn't get onto two (2) of the Ujoint zerx fittings - too tight. did a bit of research and purchased this item - LockNLube Narrow Needle Dispenser - it fits on the grease gun adapter - it pushes the zerx ball off seat and also allows you to pump the grease into the fitting - in fact there was even a recommendation from an LC100 owner for this exact application - so seems like this will solve my problem.....

Amazon product ASIN B0779FK9CZ

 

[grhill5]

Hey, I wasn't sure where to post this question, so I'll add it here. I have a 2021 LC that I bought from a dealer that had a full OME suspension rebuild on it including the UCAs. Fast forward about two years, the car has been transplanted and my new mechanic is telling me the ball joints in my OME UCAs are shot. I inspected the boots on both, and found no tears. I detect no play while driving in the steering, though I do seem to have squeeks all over the place that are a result of having the OME front and rear bumpers with tire rack, plus a roof rack, so I haven't been able to isolate the squeaks. My question is what are the odds my mechanic (not a specialist) doesn't know what he's looking at? The LC has less than 35K miles on it. It's never been abused offroad or seen much challenging terrain besides snow and some light trail driving. Just strikes me as very off that these would fail before 40K, and there seems nothing observable from the outside to give it away. Would love any suggestions to test at home.

And to add a follow up - I got a second opinion here's an update on this. I got a second opinion on the ARB UCA ball joints and I was told they needed to be greased, and probably need to be greased once per year. I was warned that without the grease, they were bordering on "extreme play" or excess wear, but that the grease kind of pressurizes and balances this. Basically the grease takes up the space. Now, I haven't been a mechanic in a long time, but does this sound right to anyone? Also, I'm really surprised I can't find more information online about how to maintain and service these ball joints. The ARB website is near useless. Appreciate anyone's thoughts.