With a heavy duty design, this is still a joint and thus still a wear item. Being a press in ball joint, you would think it will be a pain to freshen up, but the Alpha Ball Joint is rebuildable and simple to do with a rebuild kit. The ease of rebuilding stems from the corrosion resistant zinc plated housing of the ball joint remaining in the control arm. The ball joint can be rebuilt in the control arm without even having to remove the control arm from the truck. Once the taper pin is removed from the spindle, the top cap of the ball joint is removed followed by all the internal components. The rebuild kit comes with all new internal alloy races, a taper pin, and new scraper seal. Those items are installed with grease, the cap fastened back in place, and then the taper pin re-fastened to the spindle, and that’s it!
The patented Cognito Alpha Ball Joint is the next level, end-all be-all solution of upper ball joints. It eliminates the problematic dust/grease boot by using a durable scraper type seal that is not susceptible to damage that a traditional dust/grease boot is. Although the ball joint is firmly sealed and pre-greased, there is a grease fitting at top for any periodic maintenance needed. With a small internal cavity for grease, the joint does not need much at all. The internals are alloy steel, absent of any plastic liner, with alloy races and grease paths. The carburized and surface coated taper pin is a precise fit, has an oversized sphere in the socket for large contact surface providing excellent strength and wear characteristics.
Maintenance free ball joints therefore seem like a great solution, unfortunately there are factors that can cause issues. If a dust/grease boot is compromised on a maintenance free joint allowing contamination inside, grease can't be pumped in from the top to flush out contaminants and re-lubricate the joint. The plastic liner of the joint then wears and creates a squeaky joint that needs replaced. Replacing a traditional press in ball joint takes time and can be a pain in the rear without the proper specialty tools.
While ball joints are a wear item, that wear is accelerated by larger tires, high cornering loads, damaged dust/grease boots, and a lack of lubrication. It is well known that most lube shops are not tending to greaseable joints during maintenance, therefore a lack of lubrication causing prematurely worn ball joints has been an issue for the last decade or more.
Cognito 99-18 Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500 Alpha Ball Joint for Cognito Upper Control Arms
·Bootless seal, protection from weather without risk of torn boots
Bootless seal, protection from weather without risk of torn boots
·Durability of a ball joint with performance of a uni-ball
Durability of a ball joint with performance of a uni-ball
·Greater pullout strength than plastic lined ball joints
Greater pullout strength than plastic lined ball joints
·The ultimate heavy duty upper ball for IFS suspension
·Alloy joint for maximum longevity, no plastic liner
The ultimate heavy duty upper ball for IFS suspension
·Greasable, internal grease cavity retains lubricant
Greasable, internal grease cavity retains lubricant
Alloy joint for maximum longevity, no plastic liner
·High angle to accomodate more suspension travel
High angle to accomodate more suspension travel
·Rebuildable in the vehicle if ever needed
·Zinc plated corrosion resistant housing
Zinc plated corrosion resistant housing
·Patented (U.S. Pat. 10,731,700)
Patented (U.S. Pat. 10,731,700)
Alpha Ball Joint
