UCA ball joint small leak

[doru]

Hi all,
for a very small leak of the UCA OEM ball joint do you replace the ball joint or just replace the boot and load new grease (it comes with the boot)?
Or are you just ignore it until it needs replacement?
Thanks

 

[bloc]

Hi all,
for a very small leak of the UCA OEM ball joint do you replace the ball joint or just replace the boot and load new grease (it comes with the boot)?
Or are you just ignore it until it needs replacement?
Thanks

I ignored a grease leak in that area that was present when I got my rig at 105k, for 65k+ until I got aftermarket UCAs, with no ill effect.

I'd just run it and monitor for slop. Changing the ball joint is possible but requires pulling the arm and using a press. The boot/grease kit is available 43324-69085 but I haven't had good luck with that job in the past, personally. Unless it seems like all the grease is gone, the joint will probably still last a very long time.

 

[AnyMal]

Hey guys, ive been MIA for a while now busy with some things.
But this has been bugging me and i havent seen any Upper Ball Joint Leak threads anywhere on the internet despite search (which i never do well).

Im glad you posted this Doru as Ive got the same issue at 68K. Are you lifted?

Im currently chasing a tire imbalance that i was afraid this may be contributing to but i have not had a chance to disassemble anything in a long time to check for ball play.
The alignment shop recommended aftermarket UCA a while back for my 1" sensor lift but everything else points to factory not being at any limit.
Tinkerer also just did a video on it with the same conclusion and he's pretty thorough with myth-busting.
One good point though he makes is that rake affects front alignment and caster angles, and i do have a bit of rake baked in that may be limiting the OEM alignment range.

I have some excess play at high speeds which I attribute to not enough caster but im kind of suspicious of these upper ball joints. This is still better than how much wandering happened with the 21" factory setup but i attribute that more to the offset and wider tires than anything else.
No noise or rattles or anything though atm.

Thanks for any help and advice to whoever may come across this.
Hoping to get back on the forums more actively soon and do some postponed mods and upgrades to come.

Driver:

Passenger:

 

[doru]

Sorry I can't help with imbalance. My LX suspension is 100% OEM setup and parts.

 

[AnyMal]

Would anyone else mind giving me some feedback?

 

[doru]

When looking for my LX ball joint, contemplating replacing the UCA (did not know a kit for the boot exists) I came across this that has the adjustments you mentioned. No idea if it is cheap or expensive or if there are better out there.

More Information for MEVOTECH CMS861194

From reading the forum I did not find a need to change UCA after just doing the sensor lift so I don't think that is something needed. It is just 1" after all.

Looking at your pics my leak is even smaller than that and I have no change in driving because of that. The ball joint is still mechanically sound. It is just the leak out of the boot that I plan to just replace.

You may want to expand a bit on what exactly you mean by "a tire imbalance".
And where is that "some excess play at high speeds"? Are you saying that your ball joint has play? Can you give more details?

 

[chriscosta416]

That Mevotech is a reboxed SPC (old version)