an axial passage 76 formed in it finally solid cover plate 66 shown in an un expanded conical configuration in fig2 is placed above the rubber cushion 64 adjacent counter bore 22 for vertical compression and lateral expansion as will be described to seat within circumferential groove 24 and enclose the various components within housing 12 to facilitate the insertion of the solid cover plate 66 within the posterior opening of housing 12 the solid cover plate 66 includes a circumferential rim 78 having and outer diameter od sized to fit within counter bore 22 fig3 illustrates the arrangement of the ball joint 10 upper components 36 62 64 and 66 prior to the expansion of the solid cover plate 66 as indicated above those skilled in the art will recognize that the various internal components of the moveable socket secured within the housing 12 by the solid cover plate 66 may be varied in size and shape depending upon the particular application for which the movable socket is designed and accordingly the above described ball joint 10 is merely exemplary of one embodiment turning next to fig4 a and 4b a first embodiment 100 of the expanding solid cover plate 66 of the present invention is shown the cover plate 100 is symmetric about a central axis a and in unexpanded form includes a central convex portion 101 surrounded by a conical peripheral portion 106 as seen in fig4 a and 4b the upper surface 102 of the cover plate 100 includes a circumferential groove 104 disposed between the central convex portion 101 and the conical peripheral portion.