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Hi. I just got my first Honda, a 7th gen Civic. It's a fixer upper w/ 250k miles. One ball joint had play (an original I think) and the other had a split boot (seemed to be aftermarket). I decided to replace both with MOOG. After pressing in with the cheapo BJP kit I put on that elbow grease fitting it came with on each to stuff with grease from a grease gun (I am new to grease guns / stuffing boots). The first I gave it 4 or 5 squeezes and called it good. The second joint I decided to pump 8 or 10 times and grease started extruding out the bottom. It seems to be a

n engineered weak spot in the boot. Is this a normal pressure relief port or should I worry about that boot bleeding out grease if I put it on my car? Thanks!

 
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remove excess, install in the car.
i crap a lot after eating too much too. Can't get myself to fatten too much, it seems

 
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You over filled it, don't do that.
remove the excess. You only need to pump until the boot plumps up

 
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Thank you sdaidoji and Colin42 for the input. I will put it on the car this weekend.

 
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Am I the only one dying at @sdaidoji 's shenanigan post about eating too much?

 
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hey, i am trying to keep a straight face here

 
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Get ready to remove that zerk fitting on the top of the ball joint. It will not clear the CV axle.

 
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Sorry for my couple week delay. I installed ball-joints on the car. I actually subsequently replaced both CV axles (trying to eek out a tugging oscillation due to steering that turned out to be from the super worn tires and my original axles were fine). In the process I even let the knuckle/hub assembly slip out of my hand (not attached to strut) and crush the ball-joint boot a lot... this time, with the groundward pressure relief area of the boot blocked by the LCA grease seems to have escaped out the top. Surprisingly the boot survived the abuse unmarred.

Regards to the above quote, I DID leave the zerk fitting on (that came with the MOOG K90332 ball joint) even though it also came with a flush blug fitting. I verified it clears the axle on my particular vehicle and just took a picture for anyone interested. Anyway, thanks again to people rapidly answering my question a few weeks ago.

 
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huh, is that with the car lifted or with the car on the ground and settled? the suspension clearances will be a lot tighter with the car settled after a couple of drives...

 
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I actually lifted it and dropped it suddenly and there was decent clearance at all times. The zerk valve and CV cup barely change in relation to each other while the angle of the LCA changes. I did just put on new KYB strut assemblies which give the vehicle at least a couple more inches of ride height than the very low sitting 250k factory struts. I don't know how much that could affect this issue, although for now I still have plenty of clearance. I don't know what else to say, but I seem to be good to go. Thanks for warning me anyway!

 
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Good!
Keep an eye, new struts tend to get lower over time (2 weeks to a month?)
if it get lower, check again the clearance. I think I have seen a few years back that the zerk fitting did machine a groove into the axle, so be aware of that...

 
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OK thanks. I will keep an eye and switch to the plug fittings at the first sign of trouble!

 
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I installed those same ball joints on my car. I did as the instructions stated by filling with grease and then re-installing the cap. However, it really seemed like the 90 deg zerk fitting would've fit with enough clearance (barely, but enough).

So I'm curious as time goes on what your results are...because now that I have the cap installed I can't grease the ball joint again. Kinda defeats the purpose, right?

 
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So far so good. The struts have settled a little and it still looks fine. The geometry of the knuckle seems to more or less fix the position of the top half of the ball joint with respect to the outer CV joint cup. The more I think about it strut settling or even struts hitting a massive pot hole shouldn't change this orientation much / or even at all. Different generations (before 2001 for example) could be a little different but on my car I feel the Zerk fitting has good clearance left in.

 
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This is what I thought before installing everything again, but I didn't want to be wrong and think I should have followed the directions.
I wonder if I have room to remove the cap and re-install the 90-degree fitting? It'd be a tight fit for sure if it was possible. Otherwise, I'd have to remove the drive axle to do it.

 
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I can't measure the thread length of the elbow Zerk fitting as the only two I own are in the vehicle, but I remember eyeballing them before I put them in and thinking it probably wouldn't be removable once in car. But it might. An easier fix to allow continued greasing is a technology I just found out about called a "grease injection needle" of which I got online but according to YouTube most auto parts stores have them. They have a Zerk fitting on one side and a needle on the other and you simply puncture your boot to refill with grease. My outer tie rod ends (both old and came with the car I have) have been refilled at least once before (I can force grease out if I really push on the boots) and I re-greased them again with my own needle (as no Zerk fittings are present). My thought is this needle approach is good for the tie rod ends, but I don't know if lower ball joints get flexed more while driving and might force grease out the needle puncture (I'm the original poster and I mentioned I just got into greasing suspension parts a month ago so my advice is to be taken with a grain of salt). In your situation I'd personally just hold the elbow fitting up in that area and guess if it will clear... if yes, try to install it, if no, purchase a grease injection needle for future use if ball joints leak grease over time.