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Upper Ball Joint Lubrication

By Dick Ruzzin

My message is for Mangusta owners who may not know that the upper front ball joints do not have a grease fitting and can eventually break from lack of lubrication.  Just before that happens the steering gets very hard.

This happened to a friend of mine, Herb Grass, who purchased a car that had belonged to Cassias Clay. Two weeks after he bought it he had the problem. I tell this to everyone that I meet who has a Mangusta.

1. To correct the problem, remove the front wheels.

2.The upper a-arms are held to the upper ball joints by three small bolts.

3. Remove them and the upper a-arm can be easily raised exposing the top of the ball joint that has a drilled and threaded hole in it.

4. Screw in a grease fitting and grease it. Maybe for the first time ever.

5. Reinstall the upper a-arm after removing the grease fitting and you are all set for a while. I went another step, as follows:

6. Drill a hole in the upper a-arm cup at the outer end of the a-arm between the three small bolt holes that is large enough in diameter to allow installation of an extended grease fitting. This can be screwed directly into the ball joint using the provided previously mentioned threaded hole.  Bolt the a-arm back together and install the grease fitting through the new hole. Then you do not have to take the upper a-arm off the ball joint to grease it.