Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 08:30:07 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

The car holder for my GPS navigation system uses a ball-and-socket joint. It
holds the unit without any slipping -- but no matter how much I fuss with
it, I can never get it into exactly the position I want. There's simply too
much friction, both static and moving.

I've tried silicone spray lube, but it doesn't do much good. I've thought of
lithium grease, but... Nah.

Any suggestions?

Nope. If you do find a suitable lubricant, there won't be enough
friction to hold it in place when the car bounces down the road. I
think taking the ball and socket apart, and cleaning or polishing the
mechanism, will probably work better. If you must lubricate the
plastic, I suggest something dry, such as talcum powder.


What he said...
Assume you've tried the obvious technique of applying rotation to the
ball joint while implementating the desired translation?