sealed components: ball joints etc.

[talon2swords]

I have those no-maintainance/no grease-fitting ball joints, tie rods, etc. on my 97 Lumina. The car is going on 11+ years old.

The boots look ok, but I have no idea what is going on inside there. I guess there was grease put in at the factory.

Should I be concerned about proper lubrication in these joints, or just keep driving it and don't worry? I don't even think I could add a fitting if I wanted to.

Thanks.

[pocket-rocket]

I would keep driving it until they start getting some slop in them. Then I would change them out for the ones that have grease fittings in them. I regrease mine every spring to make sure all is well.

[IsaacHayes]

Yup. I hate non-greaseable ones. They always get dry. My friends intrepid goes through them like crazy, and my mom's tarus end links squeak cause they are getting dry and had to squirt pb blaster into them lol

All of my balljoints and tie rods are still tight at 210k miles but I grease them every oil change. The boots are even ripped but the fresh grease keeps the dirt out.

[merlot566jka]

you can drill and tap them for grease-serts. you can buy the greese fittings from almost any parts store. pretty easy to do....if you have them off already. if not, i imagine it would be a pain in the ass to fit a drill in there!

if your going to replace soon... look at heim joints. looks like a damn good idea to me. but not for ball joints