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greasing a rose joint?
Craigorypeck - 15/4/13 at 10:04 PM

got some new rose joints for the steering rack TREs, got some rubber boots too.. should i pack these with grease when putting on? or are they lubed enough from factory and just need kept clean?any info most welcome.

madteg - 15/4/13 at 10:35 PM

Just change them once a year.

matt_gsxr - 16/4/13 at 08:44 AM

Not sure what you should use, but I put some of that red rubber friendly grease into the boots.
Don't put too much in as it squirts out when you tighten things up.

MikeRJ - 16/4/13 at 09:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by matt_gsxr
Not sure what you should use, but I put some of that red rubber friendly grease into the boots.
Don't put too much in as it squirts out when you tighten things up.


Red grease is horrible stuff, it's vegetable oil based and dries out very quickly. For a plastic/rubber compatible grease for general purpose use, silicone grease is a better choice IMO. Plenty of rubbers used for automotive applications are resistant to normal lithium grease however.

Regarding rose joints, if they have plastic/teflon liners then they should need no lubrication. If they are plain metal bearings then they would benefit from grease, but only if the sealing boot is 100% effective, otherwise the grease will be converted to grinding paste pretty quickly.

[Edited on 16/4/13 by MikeRJ]

Not Anumber - 16/4/13 at 09:21 AM

quote:
Originally posted by madteg
Just change them once a year.


Interesting view. What is the expected service life of rose joints ?

Craigorypeck - 16/4/13 at 09:33 AM

They are lined high performance jobs. Would rather keep them good as long as possible.

trextr7monkey - 16/4/13 at 09:38 AM

Things I have bought for Fords and Triumph come pre greased, braying the old joints out and heating them up reveals grease remaining in old ones. If you whip the boots off you will see if grease is in already.
hth
Mike

mark chandler - 16/4/13 at 09:45 AM

I'd just put a smear of CV grease on them and seal with the boots.

Mine are exposed on my little car as it only does tracks, I just lightly oil before and after use and leave them be, every little helps.

Bare - 16/4/13 at 04:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
quote:
Originally posted by madteg
Just change them once a year.


Interesting view. What is the expected service life of rose joints ?


Not merely a 'view' :-) One race only if an F1 car
These are Hi performance NOT long life items.
Using them on the street is Pure Poser and not overly clever IMO.

PhillipM - 17/6/13 at 01:03 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Bare
quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
quote:
Originally posted by madteg
Just change them once a year.


Interesting view. What is the expected service life of rose joints ?


Not merely a 'view' :-) One race only if an F1 car
These are Hi performance NOT long life items.
Using them on the street is Pure Poser and not overly clever IMO.


Dragging up old threads but I was scanning through and I have to say I don't agree with that at all, correctly orientated rose joints should last years on a road car with no maintainance provided they're sheilded/booted. Anyone having issues with joint life on the road should take a long look at their design, as the only time they die prematurely is when loaded incorrectly or running out of travel.

britishtrident - 17/6/13 at 06:13 AM

Grit is tre main killer of rose joints, for circuit use without boots a wipe and clean & lube with WD40 works wonders, if protected by boots I would CV joint grease.

rodgling - 17/6/13 at 08:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Bare
quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
quote:
Originally posted by madteg
Just change them once a year.


Interesting view. What is the expected service life of rose joints ?


Not merely a 'view' :-) One race only if an F1 car
These are Hi performance NOT long life items.
Using them on the street is Pure Poser and not overly clever IMO.


Then how do the likes of Ariel get away with fully rose-jointed suspension? They don't tell their customers to replace them every year, or ever.

nick205 - 17/6/13 at 08:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rodgling
quote:
Originally posted by Bare
quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
quote:
Originally posted by madteg
Just change them once a year.


Interesting view. What is the expected service life of rose joints ?


Not merely a 'view' :-) One race only if an F1 car
These are Hi performance NOT long life items.
Using them on the street is Pure Poser and not overly clever IMO.


Then how do the likes of Ariel get away with fully rose-jointed suspension? They don't tell their customers to replace them every year, or ever.


An MOT would identify any play in the joints.

whitestu - 17/6/13 at 09:57 AM

Mine have been on for a couple of years. I haven't touched them and they are still as new, with no play whatsoever.

They are just on the top wishbones at the front so don't get much crap on them, but I can't see why 5 years plus wouldn't be likely for their lifespan.

Stu

motorcycle_mayhem - 17/6/13 at 10:49 AM

The rose joints on the Jedi are simply brass lined cheapies, with a small grease nipple incorporated. The nannies don't like these (being cheap I guess), but they've served the Jedi racing car paddock for years and seem quite strong enough. A few pumps with the grease gun every race meeting and all seems well. They all have a little play in them, but that's how they are.

The fluoro-lined ones, especially the rated and stamped versions (NMB, etc.) are extremely expensive, but require no lubricant. There's only one fluoro joint on your typical Jedi and that's on the bottom rear wishbone. It's the one that takes forces well in excess of 1.5 ton.... It dies a gritty death eventually, then replaced.

All joints are like bike engines, consumable items, replaced regularly, whatever

Oddified - 17/6/13 at 11:09 AM

I use a blob of standard lithium grease inside the booted rose joints on my car, and they've lasted for years.

Perhaps they'd last just as well without grease (and just booted) but it costs nothing and if it helps even a bit then it's worth doing in my book

Ian

PhillipM - 17/6/13 at 12:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
I use a blob of standard lithium grease inside the booted rose joints on my car, and they've lasted for years.

Perhaps they'd last just as well without grease (and just booted) but it costs nothing and if it helps even a bit then it's worth doing in my book

Ian


I do the same on both the race and road car, booted fluoro lined joints, with a bit of Millers Hi-Mol 20 inside the boots, I've got joints on the road car coming up to 5 years old and they're still as good as the day they were fitted, not even a hint of play.