An important part of your car’s suspension system is its ball joints. Made of extra tough steel, ball joints act as the pivot point between two parts: the suspension and your car’s tires. Ball joints help support your car’s weight and, as is the case with some vehicles, ball joints may be used to help set the alignment. Let’s take a closer look at this key component of your car’s suspension system.

Enclosed in a steel housing, ball joints are used on the front end of almost every car, truck, SUV, and minivan. As might be expected, ball joints are subject to a lot of wear and tear, so to properly protect them ball joints are housed in an enclosed boot to keep dirt away from the joint assembly.

There are two types of suspension systems that use ball joints. The first is a conventional system that uses an upper and lower ball joint. The second is called a MacPherson strut system that uses a single lower ball joint and an upper strut bearing. No upper ball joint is needed as the upper strut bearing does the job instead.

Maintenance for ball joints has changed over the years for most cars. Many vehicles come equipped with ball joints that are permanently lubed, so lubrication is not necessary nor is it even possible as the pack that holds the lubrication is permanently sealed. When ball joints wear out or are damaged, you can find replacement ball joints that come with lubrication fittings; in this case you would need to lubricate your ball joints on a regular basis as in when you change your vehicle’s oil.

When performing an inspection of your car’s suspension, your ball joints should be looked at too. Have a complete wheel alignment performed and make certain that the ball joints are not worn. If the ball joints wear out and are not changed, you will soon experience uneven tire wear or unreliable steering, such as wandering. Clearly, worn out ball joints are a safety issue that must be tended to and fixed immediately.