Anyone install a grease fitting to a sealed ball joint or similar?
 

Anyone install a grease fitting to a sealed ball joint or similar? I did find this link: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/539377-how-may-put-grease-fittings-ball-joints-tie-rod-ends.html

Yes, replacing it would be nice (and expensive on the Benz), but I'm not sure it's the rear control ball joint that is squeaking. It sure seems like it though when I'm under the car.

So my thought was to drill a hole in the bottom, use a self tapping zerk fitting, grease it up and see what results I get. If it works, I leave it until I replace it or move on to the control arm bushings if that wasn't the problem.

Thoughts?

The last time I did that, the ball-joint failed in 2 months. It completely separated in a parking lot. That was on a Ford Crown Vic though...

If the joint is squeaky, it's sure to have some dusty, rusty powder inside, which when mixed with grease, can turn into a very abrasive paste that will accelerate the wear until failure.

If'n you do it, keep an eye on it real good afterwards for excessive slop.

In your predicament why not try a grease gun needle ?

Thanks.

I have a new ball joint ready to go, but the old one is a press in type, while the new one has a four pronged nut on the back. Nothing to lose but an hour or so vs replacing it will take me all day.

I've got a needle as well, but need to secure it better to the grease gun to prevent squeeze out where it connects to the gun. My thought though is that it will not lube it enough.

If you value yourself or others around you, replace the joint. If you dont want to tackle the job, pay a professional to do it.

this sounds highly plausible to me.

Pumping grease into a sealed bearing usually results in the seals getting blown out.
A little bit goes a long way.
If it's already making noise it's all over but the crying and grease won't help anyway, I say replace it and forget trying to lubricate a failed bearing.
Kinda like buying a plane ticket after the plane has already left.

+1. Then clean with brake parts cleaner and seal the hole with RTV.

That said, I would not put this on a structural joint (i.e. 'wheel will fall off when fail'). I have used this method on an F-150 pitman arm which is notorious for squeaking even at low mileage. It is a beefy joint that won't fall off like a lower ball joint will if you have too many miles on it and ignore it.

G

have seen VW people do this - not sure of the fatality rate tho