A leaning vehicle including a vehicle body, two front wheels, and a support mechanism by which the two front wheels are supported by the vehicle body. The support mechanism includes a joint mechanism that is a ball joint and that includes a ball stud including a ball part connected to a shaft, and a holder having an open end part through which the ball stud is insertable, such that the ball part is freely rotatable in the holder. The open end part includes first to fourth inner edge parts. When the ball stud is in a steering neutral and leaning neutral position, in a direction along a central axis of the ball stud, the first and second inner edge parts do not overlap, and the third and fourth inner edge parts overlap, the ball part. The ball stud is tiltable between the first and second inner edge parts.

A ball joint according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a ball stud comprising a spherical ball and a rod extending upwardly from the ball; a bearing comprising an upper outer peripheral surface and a lower outer peripheral surface and configured to accommodate the ball; and a case comprising an upper inner peripheral surface which entirely comes into contact with the upper outer peripheral surface of the bearing and a stopper to which an upper end of the bearing is caught.

The invention relates to a closure element (2, 27, 30, 35) for a ball joint (1, 26, 29, 34) with a first component (12) made of metal and with a second component (13) made of a plastic material, where the second component (13) is designed as a first bearing component (10, 38, 46) of a two-part slide bearing (9) for the ball joint (1, 26, 29, 34). To enable high functionality and as economical a production cost as possible, the closure element (2, 27, 30, 35) is characterized in that the first component (12) has a cylindrical inner circumferential surface (18) and a cylindrical outer circumferential surface (19) of the second component (13) is arranged on the said inner circumferential surface (18) in an interlocked, frictionally fixed and/or material-bonded manner.

A bearing for an at least partially spherical component, the bearing including a first portion and a complementary second portion integral with the first portion and joined by a folded-over bridge portion, the first portion and the second portion each including an arcuate inner surface, where the first portion and the second portion are adapted to at least partially surround and provide a compressive spring force against the component to form a joint assembly allowing for rotation of the component, where the first portion and the second portion form a semispherical void around the component, and where the bearing includes a metal substrate and a low friction layer overlying at least one surface of the substrate.

The tie rod end includes a housing with an inner bore that extends along a central axis. A stud is partially received in the inner bore and has a shank portion which extends out of the inner bore for attachment with a gearbox. The tie rod end further includes an elastic boot body which extends from a first boot end, which is sealed with the housing, to a second boot end. A boot bearing, which is made of a plastic material, is secured with the second boot end. The boot bearing is in a dynamic sealing engagement with the shank portion of the stud. The boot bearing presents a plurality of radially inwardly extending and annularly-shaped ribs that contact the shank portion.

A ball joint assembly, a ring for use in a ball joint assembly, a seat for use in a ball joint assembly, and a method of assembly a ball joint are provided. The ball joint assembly includes a ball stud with a spherical portion and a tapered portion, wherein the spherical portion is positioned in a seat. The ring is formed as an annulus shape and includes a ring projection positioned at an outer surface of the ring, the ring for mounting between the seat and a housing of the ball joint assembly to press-fit high load to the seat. The ball joint assembly includes a seat for attaching to the ball stud at the spherical portion and to support the ring with high stress. The seat includes a seat projection comprising a portion of the seat extending beyond an outer surface of the seat towards the housing.

A control arm including a frame, a mounting structure on the frame, and a ball-and-socket joint on the frame. The ball-and-socket joint includes an insert formed of a resilient plastic material bonded in a complementary receptacle or socket of the frame. A ball portion of a ball-and-socket joint pin is rotatably arranged in the insert. A plastic material coating is provided on the ball portion and a metal coating is provided on the plastic material coating. When placed in the insert the metal coating of the ball portion contacts an inner surface of the insert.

An axial ball joint is provided with: a ball stud including a stud section and a ball section; a metallic housing which rotatably supports the ball section of the ball stud; and a resin-made ball seat which is provided to be interposed between the ball section and the housing. The housing is formed into a bottomed cylinder shape by pressing. The thickness of a bottom wall and the thickness of a circumferential side wall of the housing are set to be equal to each other. A plurality of bead sections are formed on the inner bottom of the housing by press-molding or forging.

The pivot joint assembly includes a housing with an opening which extends along an axis. A bearing is received in the opening and which has a cylindrical outer surface that is in slidable contact with another surface so that the bearing can slide in an axial direction relative to the housing. The bearing has a curved inner bearing surface. The pivot joint assembly also includes an inner ring with a curved outer surface that is in slidable contact with the curved inner bearing surface of the bearing so that the inner ring can rotate and articulate relative to the housing.

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a vehicular hybrid suspension arm and a hybrid suspension arm manufactured using the same. The method of manufacturing a hybrid suspension arm includes preparing an assembly of a ball stud and a bearing; preparing a suspension arm body; attaching a ball joint pipe and bush pipes to the suspension arm body; manufacturing a suspension arm main body by inserting the assembly of the ball stud and the bearing into the ball joint pipe; inserting the suspension arm main body into a mold in which a plurality of fixing pins are formed; injecting an insert molding into a ball joint portion comprising the ball joint pipe and the ball stud in a direction of an upper surface of the ball joint pipe through the mold; and inserting and assembling bushes into the bush pipes.