Patent ID: 8851785

Claim:
A ball joint comprising: a housing defining an axis and a chamber having an opened end and a closed end; only a single bearing disposed in said chamber; a one-component ball stud having a ball portion having a first ball portion supported within said chamber only by said single bearing and a stud portion extending outwardly from said opened end of said chamber; and a retainer having a mounting portion secured to said housing to retain said bearing in said chamber and an opening formed therein through which said stud portion extends, wherein said mounting portion is disposed in an annular groove provided in an inside side wall of said housing adjacent said opened end thereof; wherein said retainer only has an additional central portion which extends only in one radial direction relative to the mounting portion, wherein the one radial direction is a direction which extends generally radially inwardly from said mounting portion toward said axis, wherein the central portion is configured with a dome shaped portion which extends over said opened end of said chamber and includes an inner side wall surface shaped complimentary to a second ball portion of said ball portion, wherein said single bearing is disposed only above said mounting portion of said retainer such that no portion of said single bearing is disposed between said dome shaped portion of said retainer and said second ball portion of said ball portion, wherein said mounting portion of said retainer extends only generally perpendicular to said axis and said dome shaped portion of said retainer extends at an angle relative to said axis, wherein said mounting portion of said retainer directly engages said bearing to retain said bearing in said chamber, wherein said second ball portion of said ball portion is not supported by said bearing, and wherein said central portion is disposed in spaced apart contact from said second ball portion of said ball portion by a clearance distance to prevent direct contact between said inner side wall surface of said dome shaped portion of said retainer and an adjacent portion of said ball portion to thereby provide for articulation of said ball stud within said housing; wherein said mounting portion of said retainer includes an outer periphery having a locating feature provided thereon; wherein said locating feature is a plurality of scallops; wherein said locating feature is non-deformable so as to be located in the same plane as said mounting portion of said retainer prior to and following assembly thereof.