Moog Ball Joint Boot Slipping Off

[Toad455]

Hello. I'm finally getting my controls arms finished after blast, paint, bushings, and I just pressed the lower ball joints in and the grease boot slips up after I press them down. This is on a 78 C10. Ball joints are Moog K6117T. Before I complain or blame Moog I'm wondering what I can be doing wrong. The joints are pressed all the way in. I used a collar that came in the C-Clamp kit that fits nice over the rubber boot. I used the clamp to press the ring of the boot all the way down but when I release the clamp it slips up about 1/8" and you can see the splines on the ball joint, they just won't stay down. The ball joint hole on the top of the control arm is tapered so there not enough flat surface on the ball joint to grip the boot. I can press the boot down by hand to mimic the spindle assy sitting on it and it does not go all the way down. Has anyone had this issue or have any ideas. I don't want to run it like this and have grease come out all around the bottom. I attached some pics, thanks.

 

[Tonimus]

Once the spindle is on, the spindle keeps the boot down far enough. This seems to be really common on ball joints nowadays. Lots of vehicles I've done have been similar.

 

[winfred]

that's an umbrella style boot. They rely on the upper connection to hold them on, yeah, they are kind of messy

 

[TotalyHucked]

Not an issue, they all do that with that style boot. 2 sets on my '85, a set of replacement arms on my '17 Ram and now the set of replacement arms for my '05. None of the boots fit tight enough to hold themselves down on the bench. Once installed, the spindle holds it down.

 

[Toad455]

Not an issue, they all do that with that style boot. 2 sets on my '85, a set of replacement arms on my '17 Ram and now the set of replacement arms for my '05. None of the boots fit tight enough to hold themselves down on the bench. Once installed, the spindle holds it down.

Thanks all for the replies. I guess it'll have to be ok then. I can compress it by hand as if the spindle was on and it doesn't go down any lower. I was just concerned about the large gap. I'll have to be sure to not over grease.

 

[TotalyHucked]

If it won't slide over, you may be able to use a pick to help it over

 

[Toad455]

It will go down if you press it, it just pops back up because there isn't enough flat area for the ring in the boot to grab. See pic 4 above, the splined area sticks up a little but then the taper starts and makes it slip up.

 

[bucket]

Thanks all for the replies. I guess it'll have to be ok then. I can compress it by hand as if the spindle was on and it doesn't go down any lower. I was just concerned about the large gap. I'll have to be sure to not over grease.

As long as the boot keeps water and road debris out of the joint, that's all that matters and it's doing it's job.

You never want to over grease anyway. It's just a waste of grease.