A boot for a ball socket assembly in an automotive pivoting and/or rotating socket having a flange with one or more thinned sections or gates adjacent a point of attachment to a socket housing that provides an effective seal against contaminants when lubricant is not being added with external pressure and also flexes when exposed to internal pressure allowing contaminated lubricant to escape from the socket. A ring is embedded in the flange with inwardly directed teeth flanking the thinned sections or gates for securing the boot to the socket housing.

An adjustable protective cap arrangement for a ball joint in a vehicle, comprising a main part and a cap part. The main part is configured to surround a ball joint lock nut, the main part having a central through hole which extends axially through the main part and which is configured to receive a portion of a ball joint stud projecting through and beyond the ball joint lock nut. The cap part is configured to be connected to an end portion of the main part to form a closed end of the protective cap arrangement. When the cap part has been connected to the main part, the height of the protective cap arrangement is adjustable by adjustment of the axial position of the cap part relative to the main part, thereby enabling accommodation of different ball joint stud heights.

A steering system includes an arm, a knuckle, a joint, and a steering sensor. The arm defines a first passage. The knuckle has a knuckle arm defining a second passage. The joint has a ball portion and a shaft portion extending. The ball portion is disposed within the first passage and the shaft portion is disposed within the second passage. The ball portion defines a conical recess that has an opening at an upper end of the ball portion and terminates inside the ball portion with a pocket. The steering sensor has a driveshaft extending along a longitudinal axis into the conical recess. The driveshaft includes a head that engages with the pocket. The ball portion is configured to pivot within the first passage relative to the longitudinal axis and the head. The joint and the driveshaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis as the knuckle is turned.

A dust cover attaches to a ball joint, and includes a body portion, a fixed portion, a seal portion, and a neck portion. The body portion includes a first body section having a minimum thickness T1, a second body section having a minimum thickness T2 that is 1.9 times or more the minimum thickness T1, and a bent section. The fixed portion is arranged on a first end side of the body portion and fastened to the socket. The seal portion is formed only of an elastic material and arranged on a second end side of the body portion, and can slide relative to the shaft portion and the knuckle. The neck portion, arranged between the body portion and the seal portion, allows the seal portion to tilt relative to the body portion. The body portion, the fixed portion, the seal portion, and the neck portion are integrally formed as a unitary component.

A steering system includes an arm, a knuckle, a joint, and a steering sensor. The arm defines a first passage. The knuckle has a knuckle arm defining a second passage. The joint has a ball portion and a shaft portion extending. The ball portion is disposed within the first passage and the shaft portion is disposed within the second passage. The ball portion defines a conical recess that has an opening at an upper end of the ball portion and terminates inside the ball portion with a pocket. The steering sensor has a driveshaft extending along a longitudinal axis into the conical recess. The driveshaft includes a head that engages with the pocket. The ball portion is configured to pivot within the first passage relative to the longitudinal axis and the head. The joint and the driveshaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis as the knuckle is turned.

A constant velocity joint includes a joint body, a boot adapter and a rubber boot, a plurality of fasteners for attaching the boot adapter to the joint body, the fasteners being receivable in a plurality of holes in the boot adapter and a plurality of holes in the joint body, a propeller shaft extending from the boot adapter, and a load distributing washer located between the boot adapter and the plurality of fasteners. The load distributing washer includes an annular disk having a first side and a second side, the annular disk having a clearance shape through which a boot portion of the boot adapter may be inserted, a flange extending perpendicularly from an outer edge of the second side of the annular face, and a plurality of fastener holes for receiving the plurality of fasteners for fixedly attaching the boot adapter to the joint body.

A ball joint and a dust cover in which a stable sealing function can be provided even when a space for disposing the dust cover is small are provided. The dust cover includes a deformable body portion, a fixed portion which is provided on one end side of the body portion and is fixed to a socket, and a seal portion provided on the other end side of the body portion. The seal portion has a main seal part which is provided to be slidable relative to a spherical portion side flange and an opposite side flange while sandwiched therebetween. The maximum length of the main seal part in a central axis direction in a state in which no external force is applied thereto is longer than a distance between opposing surfaces of the spherical portion side flange and the opposite side flange, where the central axis direction is a direction in which a central axis of the dust cover extends in a state in which no external force is applied thereto.

A boot with a body cavity that protects a moveable joint and retains lubricant associated with the joint is disclosed. The wall of the boot body includes a venting aperture that is protected by a surrounding barrier structure.

The present invention provides a dust cover which is provided between an engine room and the driver's seat such that, when a steering shaft provided under a steering wheel of a vehicle is installed passing through a vehicle frame, the steering shaft passes through the dust cover. The dust cover is characterized by comprising: a pair of bearings coupled to the steering shaft; a pair of bearing races provided to surround outer circumferential surfaces of the bearings; a ring-shaped fixing cap forcibly inserted into the bearing races through both sides of an opening by interference fitting, thereby fixing the bearings; and an integrally formed seal part having through-holes to which the bearing races are coupled.

The approach which is proposed here relates to an adjusting sleeve (105) for a bearing device (100) having at least one housing (110) for receiving a bearing sleeve (115), the bearing sleeve (115) for receiving a shaft (120), and the shaft (120). The adjusting sleeve (105) is configured to be capable of being received between the bearing sleeve (115) and the housing (110) and to be thermally conductive. To this end, an outer wall (125) of the adjusting sleeve (105) has at least one outer depression (135) which is configured to produce an outer chamber (140) between the adjusting sleeve (105) and the housing (110) in a received state of the adjusting sleeve (105) in the bearing device (100), and/or an inner wall (130) of the adjusting sleeve (105) has at least one inner depression (145) which is configured to produce an inner chamber (150) between the adjusting sleeve (105) and the bearing sleeve (115) in the received state of the adjusting sleeve (105) in the bearing device (100).