Ball socket assembly and method of making

A method of making a ball socket assembly, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a bearing which is made as a monolithic piece of a plastic material that comprises 8-12 mass percent polytetrafluoroethylene, 2-6 mass percent carbon fibers, and the remainder acetal, the bearing including a plurality of fingers which are spaced circumferentially from one another by slots and at least partially surround a ball cavity, each of the fingers having an end face that is chamfered from an outer edge towards an inner edge in a direction towards the ball cavity, the bearing having a wall thickness between an outer surface of the bearing and the ball cavity, and the slots extending from an open end of the bearing to a location where the wall thickness is at a maximum;
• urging a ball portion of a ball stud towards the ball cavity;
• deflecting the fingers in a radially outward direction to allow the ball portion of the ball stud to pass the fingers and be received in the ball cavity;
• inserting the bearing with the ball portion contained in the ball cavity into an open bore of a housing;
• and
• plastically deforming a portion of the housing to capture the bearing within the open bore of the housing.

A ball socket assembly, comprising:

• a housing with an inner bore;
• a bearing received in said inner bore of said housing, said bearing being made as a monolithic piece of a plastic material, and said bearing having a curved bearing surface which surrounds a ball cavity;
• a ball stud having a ball and shank portion, said ball portion being received in said ball cavity of said bearing, and said ball portion having an equator;
• said curved bearing surface of said bearing being in slidable contact with said ball portion of said ball stud on opposite axial sides of said equator;
• said bearing having a wall thickness between an outer surface of said bearing and said ball cavity, and said slots extending from an open end of said bearing to a location where said wall thickness is at a maximum;
• said bearing having an angled outer wall section that has a frustoconical shape and tapers radially inwardly in a direction away from said open end of said bearing, and said angled outer wall section of said bearing being in surface-to-surface contact with an angled inner wall section of said housing;
• and
• said plastic material of said bearing comprising 8-12 mass percent polytetrafluoroethylene, 2-6 mass percent carbon fibers, and acetal to allow said fingers to deflect radially to allow said ball portion of said ball stud to be inserted into said ball cavity and to also have adequate strength to resist failure when subjected to operational loads.