I have new replacement upper ball joints, they came in three pieces, the ball joint itself, a sleeve, and the dust cover. no instructions!! i have never installed these and would like to know how they are suppose to go together. i know the ball joint slips through the top of the control arm, the item i would like to know, does the mental sleve get placed under the arm then bolted together, and the dust cover go on last, or does the dust cover somehow slip inside the sleve and then it gets bolted on. i know this is long but i want to make sure before i tear this thing apart, that i will be doing it right, thanks steve

teven123, The dust boot should have a shoulder on it, the dust boot goes on, then the sleeve(it should have a inward shaped lip) it is the retainer for the boot. Some times they are made in one piece, depends on the maker. Hope this helps. there should have been at least an exploded drawing in the box. The whole assembly goes down from the top after you assemble it.

[This message has been edited by chev64 (edited 04-28-99).]

Here is the process: remove the rivets from the original joints or the bolts from the old replacement joints . If they are old originals, you will need to drill out the holes to allow the new bolts to be used. The new joint sets on top of the control arm and the rubber boot goes on from below, followed by the metal retainer. Then the nuts go onto the bolts and are tightened. I recommend that if you are replacing riveted in old joints that you drill ONE hole for the new bolt first and put in one bolt. Then drill one more hole and put in one more bolt and so on. This will give you better fit of the parts. Good Luck!

thanks i can always count on the info from you guys to make the job a little bit easier, steve

I had the very same question when I did mine. ALL of the boot gets pushed through the sleeve but the retaining lip. It is held in place by the "rolled over" lip of the sleeve. It becomes very apparent once the boot is "smooshed" down by the spindle.

Cam