CraigWaterman11
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Okay guys I wanted to return to this issue. When I first began the Rear Tie Rod assembly replacement thread I also stated I was going to work on rear ball joint dust cover or boot replacement as well. It took awhile but I have some photos to show you.
Maybe a small synopsis of this issue will help. First as most know, or at least those who are familiar with this issue know, they do not sell replacement ball joint covers or dust covers for the rear ball joints like they do with a lot of other "normal" vehicles. The issue isn't as readily remedied anymore than it was with the Tie Rod issue because the upper/lower rear ball joints are not regular sized ball joints either. If they were we could simply go to a place like Energy Suspension or something like this and say "give me some of the same sized ball joint grease/dust covers", I know because I tried to do it already and it didn't work. Actually I tried a host of other solutions as well including ordering a Polyurethane dust cover from Energy Suspension and hand modifying it. They can be cut, they can be modified but can not be enlarged to the diameter you are going to need for the upper and lower ball joint areas where the boot sits at............. it will not stay seated unless it's tied and Energy Suspension does not make this type of boot. Actually no place does that I've found.
So essentially, and this is why this issue is so important, any perfectly good ball joint, including brand new ones, that are not properly covered and protected will pick up road debris, grime, water, etc. and be utterly worthless and need replacing in a short period of time. Small cost analysis for this.....well if you thought it absurd that you had to pay $1000 for rear control arms for both lower tie rods, you should also know that if you have split or damaged dust covers you will be replacing all four of your rear control arms at the same price each. This is because you cannot not replace the ball joints in the rear either. If you dust covers are gone, the ball joints go afterwards, if they go you cannot get just replacement ball joints.
Here are some pics for you guys:
The photo above is a rear upper control arm with the ball joint currently exposed...
(above)This is the OEM dust cover on the ball joint un-tied and sitting on top of the exposed ball joint. This is what the dust cover should look like when it's perfectly healthy.
(above) Close up of the exposed joint showing exactly what's being covered (PLEASE NOTE I REMOVED ALL OF THE GREASE SO THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE JOINT)
(above) Downward photo of the OEM dust cover
(above) This is the OEM dust cover sitting beside the new ribbed design molded dust cover (I will talk about the new cover down below)
(above) new ribbed designed dust cover fitted on ball joint.
(above and below) ribbed design allows better flexing around the ball joint
Okay guys discussing the new molded dust cover, here's the crux of the entire matter. I am going to shoot straight with it. So because no-one makes them specifically for our car unfortunately the price point isn't going to be $10-15 dollars a piece. The first mold maker I contacted out of PA told me the cheapest he could get me a mold for was between $600-1000. I teamed up with someone else who had a better design for the dust cover but the cost is still going to be like $35 per cover (still negotiating hopefully down cheaper!). I wanted to post this because I have perfectly good ball joints on the rear of my Spyder but as of now all four of the ball joint dust covers are deteriorated. The photos above are actually a used control arm (one of two of the upper rear) I bought in advance for when my ball joints finally gave in to the elements if I could not come up with something to save them. Actually, what I was personally doing was cleaning everyone of the ball joints out, repacking them with Marine grease before I would take it on trips. I would come home wipe them all down, and do it again. I had the hope that I could find something better than replacing all 4 control arms when they failed. For me this was it.........Comments?
Maybe a small synopsis of this issue will help. First as most know, or at least those who are familiar with this issue know, they do not sell replacement ball joint covers or dust covers for the rear ball joints like they do with a lot of other "normal" vehicles. The issue isn't as readily remedied anymore than it was with the Tie Rod issue because the upper/lower rear ball joints are not regular sized ball joints either. If they were we could simply go to a place like Energy Suspension or something like this and say "give me some of the same sized ball joint grease/dust covers", I know because I tried to do it already and it didn't work. Actually I tried a host of other solutions as well including ordering a Polyurethane dust cover from Energy Suspension and hand modifying it. They can be cut, they can be modified but can not be enlarged to the diameter you are going to need for the upper and lower ball joint areas where the boot sits at............. it will not stay seated unless it's tied and Energy Suspension does not make this type of boot. Actually no place does that I've found.
So essentially, and this is why this issue is so important, any perfectly good ball joint, including brand new ones, that are not properly covered and protected will pick up road debris, grime, water, etc. and be utterly worthless and need replacing in a short period of time. Small cost analysis for this.....well if you thought it absurd that you had to pay $1000 for rear control arms for both lower tie rods, you should also know that if you have split or damaged dust covers you will be replacing all four of your rear control arms at the same price each. This is because you cannot not replace the ball joints in the rear either. If you dust covers are gone, the ball joints go afterwards, if they go you cannot get just replacement ball joints.
Here are some pics for you guys:
The photo above is a rear upper control arm with the ball joint currently exposed...
(above)This is the OEM dust cover on the ball joint un-tied and sitting on top of the exposed ball joint. This is what the dust cover should look like when it's perfectly healthy.
(above) Close up of the exposed joint showing exactly what's being covered (PLEASE NOTE I REMOVED ALL OF THE GREASE SO THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE JOINT)
(above) Downward photo of the OEM dust cover
(above) This is the OEM dust cover sitting beside the new ribbed design molded dust cover (I will talk about the new cover down below)
(above) new ribbed designed dust cover fitted on ball joint.
(above and below) ribbed design allows better flexing around the ball joint
Okay guys discussing the new molded dust cover, here's the crux of the entire matter. I am going to shoot straight with it. So because no-one makes them specifically for our car unfortunately the price point isn't going to be $10-15 dollars a piece. The first mold maker I contacted out of PA told me the cheapest he could get me a mold for was between $600-1000. I teamed up with someone else who had a better design for the dust cover but the cost is still going to be like $35 per cover (still negotiating hopefully down cheaper!). I wanted to post this because I have perfectly good ball joints on the rear of my Spyder but as of now all four of the ball joint dust covers are deteriorated. The photos above are actually a used control arm (one of two of the upper rear) I bought in advance for when my ball joints finally gave in to the elements if I could not come up with something to save them. Actually, what I was personally doing was cleaning everyone of the ball joints out, repacking them with Marine grease before I would take it on trips. I would come home wipe them all down, and do it again. I had the hope that I could find something better than replacing all 4 control arms when they failed. For me this was it.........Comments?
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......governments are full of unsavoury types.....but thats democracy for ya!
