Another 'lifetime' joint gone bad!

Grrr....

I hate changing out parts needlessly. Back in 2000 when I rebuilt my
CJ7 I put all new front end parts in. I thought I was being smart and
put in 'lifetime' 'Heavy Duty' joints.

Well they allmost all failed really soon, one only lasted 8 months
before water killed it.

I 'think' I found the last one of those SOB's (I hope) blown, a lower
ball joint. Well it lasted 6 years, but only for less than half the
life of one set of tires. My 33x9.5" BFG Muds were new then too and
they are less than half worn.

So basically if anyone runs water crossings or even drives in a lot of
rain, I highly recommend the type of joints you can grease. I 'always'
get water out of the joints when I grease them.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Hi Mike,
I wonder about going to that wheel bearing grease used in boat
trailers?
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Mike Romain wrote:
>
> Grrr....
>
> I hate changing out parts needlessly. Back in 2000 when I rebuilt my
> CJ7 I put all new front end parts in. I thought I was being smart and
> put in 'lifetime' 'Heavy Duty' joints.
>
> Well they allmost all failed really soon, one only lasted 8 months
> before water killed it.
>
> I 'think' I found the last one of those SOB's (I hope) blown, a lower
> ball joint. Well it lasted 6 years, but only for less than half the
> life of one set of tires. My 33x9.5" BFG Muds were new then too and
> they are less than half worn.
>
> So basically if anyone runs water crossings or even drives in a lot of
> rain, I highly recommend the type of joints you can grease. I 'always'
> get water out of the joints when I grease them.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Just general chassis and bearing grease works great at making joints
last... If you can get it into them!

The expensive ones don't allow it, they think their grease is 'special'
or something so you can't add more.

Mike

"L.W.(Bill) Hughes III" wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
> I wonder about going to that wheel bearing grease used in boat
> trailers?
> God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/
>
> Mike Romain wrote:
> >
> > Grrr....
> >
> > I hate changing out parts needlessly. Back in 2000 when I rebuilt my
> > CJ7 I put all new front end parts in. I thought I was being smart and
> > put in 'lifetime' 'Heavy Duty' joints.
> >
> > Well they allmost all failed really soon, one only lasted 8 months
> > before water killed it.
> >
> > I 'think' I found the last one of those SOB's (I hope) blown, a lower
> > ball joint. Well it lasted 6 years, but only for less than half the
> > life of one set of tires. My 33x9.5" BFG Muds were new then too and
> > they are less than half worn.
> >
> > So basically if anyone runs water crossings or even drives in a lot of
> > rain, I highly recommend the type of joints you can grease. I 'always'
> > get water out of the joints when I grease them.
> >
> > Mike
> > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> > Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> > Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
> > (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

I use it on my boat trailer along with bearing buddies. It's generally
quite a bit thinner than automotive grease and gets even thinner as it
absorbs water. It works fine with roller bearings but I wouldn't use it
for ball joints. The problem with water dunking is the difference in
pressure and temperature forcing water in past the seals. Bearing
Buddies keep positive pressure inside the hub, but have to be greased
regularly and most boat trailer wheel bearings don't last that long
anyway.

I've generally taken Lifetime Warranty to mean the lifetime of the part
in question. By the time most cars need parts, they're close to trade-in
time anyway.

In article >, says...
> Hi Mike,
> I wonder about going to that wheel bearing grease used in boat
> trailers?
> God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/
>
> Mike Romain wrote:
> >
> > Grrr....
> >
> > I hate changing out parts needlessly. Back in 2000 when I rebuilt my
> > CJ7 I put all new front end parts in. I thought I was being smart and
> > put in 'lifetime' 'Heavy Duty' joints.
> >
> > Well they allmost all failed really soon, one only lasted 8 months
> > before water killed it.
> >
> > I 'think' I found the last one of those SOB's (I hope) blown, a lower
> > ball joint. Well it lasted 6 years, but only for less than half the
> > life of one set of tires. My 33x9.5" BFG Muds were new then too and
> > they are less than half worn.
> >
> > So basically if anyone runs water crossings or even drives in a lot of
> > rain, I highly recommend the type of joints you can grease. I 'always'
> > get water out of the joints when I grease them.
> >
> > Mike
> > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> > Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> > Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
> > (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
>