Ball Joints Replacement Experience

I recently replaced the Ball Joints in my '89 XJ (with 205K miles on it with what I expect were original Ball Joints).

I purchased Ball Joints from NAPA and found that the lower Ball Joints had grease zerk. I called Shucks, Autozone and several others in my area and found that ALL of the aftermarket Ball Joints listed for my Jeep had grease zerks. My concern with the grease zerk was two fold; First them being damaged by the axle shaft u-joint, in my case the zerk would have been hit by the u-joint, the second was the ability to grease the zerk if I was able to find one (90 deg, low clearance, etc) that would have fit.

After talking to a shop that does this work regularly I found that they often run into this problem and they usually grease the zerk after instalation and then Plug the zerk fitting and recommend greasing them every 15K miles or so.

In the end, I decided to purchase Spicer Ball Joints that the lowers are not greaseable and believe this to be the best choice for me. I posted this information because I couldn't find any info in my search with similar issues mentioned. Maybe this will be useful for someone else going through this issue.

Michael

Yeah I have the bottom greasable ones.. when I pull the axles I just grease them and put the pluggs back in.. So Far no issues..

Nick

Spicer is the OEM replacement and the best choice.

I used moog, no problems yet. They come with a strait zerk, a bent zerk and a plug. I greased them then plugged them. after 15k mi with 33's they seem to be doing fine.