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[xgecko]

I thought about it some more and decided that there is indeed a good chance that the altered geometry did cause greater wear. Essentially you put a 1.5" lever arm on the wheel and this does produce a different force vector on the ball joints which may very well have increased the wear substantially. This would be exacerbated by poor lubrication, so if there is any chance the grease oozed out then you probably have your cuplrit.

I would consider inspecting them annually and possibly increasing the service interval for greasing the joints substantially. This might prolong the life of the joints considerably.

[68 Toro]

Did I lubricate the ball joints regularly? No, and I doubt this was done during the several quickie oil changes that were done, either. However now that I have learned something new, I will insist that this is done, going forward. What are your recommendations for ball joint lubrication interval and lubricant? I simply don't know these things.

The next time I have to visit my mechanic, I will ask his opinion why the ball joints all wore out so soon. Hopefully there will be no unscheduled visits. But some time in 2012 I plan to have several things done:

1) electric auxilliary fuel pump

2) replace rusted rear suspension single-leaf springs with new multi-leaf springs

3) isolate the vacuum leak the prevents the headlight doors from closing after the engine is turned off (when engine runs, these doors operate normally)

4) replace glove box lock and re-key to use same key as ignition & doors

5) rear window defroster inoperative