Was greasing ball joints and tie rod ends today and discovered that the right rear ball joint will not except grease. Also the grease zert is spinning around like it needs a exorcism Is that normal ? should the grease zert just be spinnning around like that ?

At any rate I can't get grease in it. The ball joint is totally dry. This explains the sqeaking noise. A couple of questions.

1. Is there anything I can do to get this joint to except grease ? It'* so bad that I can't even compress the handle on the grease gun.

2. If I replace the ball joint how does it come out ? I know on the front you have to do the rivet removal deal, is the rear riveted too ?

3. If I replace the ball joint whats the deal with the spring ? Do I need to compress the spring so I don't loose my front teeth :P

I searched the site, but couldn't find much about this topic. As always...thanks guys !

Yes you would need to compress the spring, Yes it'* riveted. The zerk is screwed in so it may just be loose.


I suggest you remove the zerk and pass a wire through it to clean it or at worst replace the zerk.

How many turns should it take to remove the zerk ? I gave it a good many turns both directions and it would not come out or tighten up. So you think I can fix the bad zerk ? I don't think I have a wire that small and strong to pass through it. Am I understanding you right the zerk just screws in like a screw ? thanks for your suggestion.

Yeah, they just screw in.... 10 turns or less? Might have to replace the joint.

Sounds like the zerk or the balljoint thread is stripped out. You could try inserting the end of a putty knife (or other thin flat piece) in between where the zerk and the balljoint meet and apply a little pressure as you back out the zerk. Then try inserting a new zerk with a slightly bigger thread? I believe there are metric and standard size threaded zerks. Just my .02 worth.

Thanks Dame & Bsan. Good idea about getting the old zerk out. I'll give that a try. I think is kinda funny how it wont take grease. I wish I had a spring compressor so I could replace the joint. I'll try replacing the zerk first then go from there. Thanks again