Lower ball joint squeak - mitigate/refurb/replace

[Hayes]

Hey everyone.
I've read through several threads on lower ball joint replacement, and it looks like I will be replacing at least one of mine in the near future. In the meantime I had some specific questions I'd appreciate feedback on:

Lower ball joint, 140,000 miles on the rig.
No play detected by me, nor by the shop who recently did my safety inspection.
No knocking, clunking, or banging noises.
Boot looks really good.
Squeaks like a mofo.

I'll likely replace it soon out of principle, but in the meantime I'd like to mitigate the squeak if I can.

What is your opinion on piercing the boot (otherwise in great shape) to grease the joint, followed by clean and seal with RTV silicone?

What about popping the mount, cleaning, regreasing and rebooting? Or am I 90% of the way toward replacing the whole joint at that point?

Ignore the squeak until I replace the joint?

Thanks for your time.

 

[mrbigboy]

I had success with this method (pierce boot and grease) on my Tacoma years ago. I thought the joints were done, but the noise stopped and I ended up not replacing for another 15-20k miles or so.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

They make a grease gun attachment that's a fine needle. I did that exact thing with mine to buy me a month until my upper and lower joints arrived from Japan. No sense in refurbing, for the cost just replace. Your good friends @cruiseroutfit have what you need.

 

[Hayes]

I've got the fine grease needle on hand that I used to sneak under my CV boots before I re-banded them.
I just used it on my lower ball joint. A few pumps of grease, reposition the needle, a few pumps more. One tiny almost imperceptible hole that I covered with rtv black.
Two turns of the steering wheel and the squeak is GONE.

 

[Odyseuss]

The quick grease through the boot is a quick remedy for the noise. I recently replaced mine for creaking and it was pretty worn. It was much easier to notice the free play and wear after I had it the joint out. It seems harder to realize how worn they really are while they are still installed. I was able to leave the inner part of the axle in place and just remove the outer CV from the spindle in order to clear the joint for removal.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Mine creaked like none other so I had slee replace them on both sides about two years ago. It was expensive but I'm glad I had it done. Not a sound since.

 

[AimCOtaco]

Recall that the lower joint is in tension from the torsion bar so it can be harder to "feel" and test. You may want to lift up the front, unload the T-bar (loosen the adjuster until slack, count turns if you want to put it back where it was later) and re-check for slop. I had a screamer like that which felt ok on the ground or jacked up but when I took tension off of it it was indeed sloppy and needed replaced.

 

[Hayes]

I'll back off my statement the the "squeak is GONE," and say that it is greatly reduced.
I will replace the joint soon.
Another quick question before I dive back into the replacement writeups:

For replacement, the hub needs to come off of the axle and steering assembly, but the axle can stay in place, correct?

 

[Hayes]

I'm sure it will all make sense once I'm looking at the front end with wrench in hand, but what about this:

Could one separate and replace the lower ball joint while leaving the hub on the axle, if the shock and steering arm are disconnected, and the upper joint stays connected? Swing the axle and hub up on the UCA, freeing the lower joint?
I'm running Nitro UCAs that are less than a year old, so I have no reason to mess with the uppers right now. I also just re-torqued my wheel bearings last weekend, so I'm thinking of ways to minimize the tear down.

The quick grease through the boot is a quick remedy for the noise. I recently replaced mine for creaking and it was pretty worn. It was much easier to notice the free play and wear after I had it the joint out. It seems harder to realize how worn they really are while they are still installed. I was able to leave the inner part of the axle in place and just remove the outer CV from the spindle in order to clear the joint for removal.

 

[duggy]

You will have to take the CV out of the hub but not out of the diff. If you swing out both items and tie wrap it to the frame, you will have enough space to use the ball joint press tool to press out the old ball joint. This method also mitigates any risk of the CV cage/balls popping out, requiring full disassembly of the CV joint.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

And, random, the 555 joints don't have a painted top surface. Mine were bright orange after a couple weeks. Wire brushed them and hit them with Rusto and they're good, but I'd spray them on install.

 

[ad27326]

I am at 244k miles on my LC and ball joints, look and feel ok. Should I replace as a precaution or wait until I get a noise or some play? Thanks!