ok so i painted my control arms and got new ball joints for them. i cant figure out the thin metal piece shown in the picture. originally i had these little metal plates pressed into the control arm before the balljoint but now it doesnt work out because of the size of the hole after paint and the fact that the rubber boot is too small to go over the metal piece. i put them on without the thin metal pieces, figured it isn't a crucial part. what do you guys think?

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MOG%2DK5108&N=700+4294925080+115&autoview=sku

To me it loos like the rubber seal slides into the thin steel shield and it gets placed on the under side of the upper a-arm while the ball joint gets placed on top of the a-arm. The bolt should go through from top to bottom, the ball joint, a-arm, and then shield. Hope this helps.

Jon has it right. The rubber boot goes under the control arm and the metal piece goes on next. No reason to leave it off.

No reason to leave it off.

:yes: Gonna be real hard to keep it greased.

Ditto!