Patent ID: 7704007

Claim:
A dust boot, comprising: an annular body defining an interior cavity having a housing opening at one longitudinal end of said dust boot for attaching to a housing, and a shank opening at an opposite longitudinal end of said dust boot for sealingly engaging a shank portion of a ball stud; an upper boot wall defining an annular end face surrounding said shank opening; an annular rim seal extending longitudinally outwardly from and along a periphery of said annular end face spaced radially outwardly from said shank opening by said annular end face; said rim seal having a flexible flap to permit the evacuation of excess grease from within said interior cavity of said dust boot, said rim seal flexing radially outwardly to relieve excess grease; a continuous, annular wiping lip located on an inner radial face of said upper boot wall in said shank opening; an annular grease channel bounded circumferentially between said rim seal and said wiping lip and bounded longitudinally between said upper boot wall and a lower channel wall which radially extends between said rim seal and said wiping lip; an offset opening hole longitudinally extending through said upper boot wall into said grease channel which is radially offset from said wiping lip and which is circumferentially spaced away from said flexible flap; and a chaplet hole longitudinally extending through said lower channel wall into said grease channel which is aligned with said offset opening hole; wherein excess grease flows from within said interior cavity of said dust boot through said chaplet hole into and around said grease channel and further flows through said offset opening hole and said flexible flap.