Ball joint assembly for a control arm

1. A ball joint assembly for a control arm of a vehicle suspension system, comprising:

a housing;

a bearing having an opening that extends along a first axis between opposite axial ends and said bearing having a curved bearing surface which surrounds a generally spherical ball receiving area;

a stud including a stud ball and a pair of sleeves;

said stud ball having a curved outer surface and an inner bore that extends along a second axis from a truncated top to a truncated bottom;

said stud ball being positioned within said ball receiving area of said bearing such that said curved outer surface is in sliding contact with said curved bearing surface of said bearing to allow said bearing and housing to rotate relative to said stud;

said opening of said bearing presenting a non-circular passage which extends from said ball receiving area to one of said axial ends and wherein said opening presents a pair of diametrically opposed slots that are shaped to allow said ball stud to pass through said passage when said second axis of said ball stud is oriented perpendicularly to said first axis of said bearing;

a fastener which is receivable within said inner bore of said stud for connecting said stud with a frame of a vehicle;

said fastener including an internal passage which extends from an end of said fastener to a side surface of said fastener and said stud ball having a channel which extends from said inner bore to said outer surface for allowing lubrication of said ball joint assembly while said ball joint assembly is installed in the vehicle suspension system;

each of said sleeves of said stud extending along said first axis from a first end area that is received in said stud ball to a second end area and having an outer surface which tapers radially inwardly from said second end area to said first end area; and

a pair of dust boots, each of said dust boots being sealed against said housing and being sealed against said second end area of one of said sleeves.

2. The ball joint assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said sleeves include protrusions that are received within said inner bore of said stud ball and wherein said protrusions of said sleeves are spaced axially from one another within said inner bore of said stud ball to present an open space which extends around said fastener when said fastener is received within said inner bore of said stud.

3. The ball joint assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stud ball further includes at least one groove for distributing lubricant around said outer surface of said stud ball.

4. The ball joint assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bearing and said housing are formed as a single monolithic piece.

5. The ball joint assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said fastener is a bolt.

6. A method of making a ball joint assembly for a control arm of a vehicle suspension, comprising the steps of:

preparing a housing and a bearing with an opening which extends along a first axis, the opening having a non-circular passage with a pair of diametrically opposed slots and extending to a generally spherical ball receiving area;

preparing a stud ball that has a curved outer surface and an inner bore that extends along a second axis from a truncated top to a truncated bottom;

aligning the stud ball relative to the bearing such that the second axis extends generally perpendicularly to the first axis;

inserting the stud ball through the passage of the bearing and into the ball receiving area;

rotating the stud ball within the ball receiving area of the bearing to align the first and second axes and to establish sliding contact between the curved outer surface of the stud ball and a curved bearing surface of the bearing;

engaging sleeves with the truncated top and truncated bottom of the stud ball after the stud ball has been rotated within the cavity of the bearing wherein each of the sleeves extends along the first axis form a first end area that is received in the stud ball to a second end area and wherein each sleeve has an outer surface which tapers radially inwardly from said second end area to said first end area; and

sealing a pair of dust boots against the housing and against the second end areas of the sleeves.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6 further including the step of inserting a fastener through the inner bore of the stud ball.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein the fastener is provided with an internal passage which extends from one end of the fastener to a side surface of the fastener.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the sleeves include protrusions which extend into the inner bore of the stud ball and are spaced from one another to present an open space which surrounds the fastener for receiving lubricant from the internal passage of the fastener.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9 wherein the stud ball has a channel for conveying the lubricant from the open space to the outer surface of the stud ball.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the outer surface of the stud ball has at least one groove for distributing the lubricant around the outer surface.