Sooooo. Ball joint?

[Freebeer187]

A buddy of mine looked briefly at my suspension and took a ride in the car tonight. He said for sure one of the ball joints is bad and needs to be replaced. Im not 100% sure if this is a accurate diagnostic, but if it is how much will I be looking at? Tough job to do? What brand should I get? It appears to be the front passenger.

Click to read more...

 

[DanJ]

I have a bad one as well I believe. I hear some rumor that they are riveted on and it's easier to just replace the LCA's. Haven't really looked into it though.

 

[Ron Vogel]

I have a bad one as well I believe. I hear some rumor that they are riveted on and it's easier to just replace the LCA's. Haven't really looked into it though.

It's a pain to remove, but alas it's usually better just to replace the whole assembly to also replace the bushings in one shot. It's about the same cost as replacing the parts alone, but the repo's are cheaper parts too...pick your poison. If you drive harder than the average DD, buy all Moog stuff and rebuild them.

 

[Mike K]

Remove and replace... It's relatively easy for the home mechanic to replace arms. Not so easy to rebuild and press in bushings, drill out the ball joint rivets, etc.

 

[Freebeer187]

Sounds good. Im going to indeed make sure 100% that it is the ball joint/Lower control arm and just replace it. Ill go with Moog too. Its about $100 on rock auto.

 

[Freebeer187]

This is what I would need? Passenger side. $20 off rock autos price and free shipping

http://worldsuspension.com/index.php/front-lower-rh-control-arm-1562.html?___store=default&___store=default

EDIT* Actually... I can't find "Moog" anywhere on that site. Maby its not a Moog part.

 

[Ron Vogel]

Why don't you do both at the same time? Seems kinda wasteful to put in a new arm, get an alignment, then have the other side wear out too.

Actually, everytime I've done my own suspension, I replace the LCA's AND the outer tie rod ends. There aren't that many parts to the front suspension, and you might as well replace all of it, or just repair the next wear part that will fail in a short time. Hard to keep track when you replaced each part unless you do them all at once.

 

[Freebeer187]

Why don't you do both at the same time? Seems kinda wasteful to put in a new arm, get an alignment, then have the other side wear out too.

Actually, everytime I've done my own suspension, I replace the LCA's AND the outer tie rod ends. There aren't that many parts to the front suspension, and you might as well replace all of it, or just repair the next wear part that will fail in a short time. Hard to keep track when you replaced each part unless you do them all at once.

Good advice. If your going to do it, may as well do it right and replace the other side. The only thing is im strapped on cash...

So after your replace the LCA, you have to get an alignment? Damn I forgot about that.

 

[Freebeer187]

Looks about right?

 

[AlmightyBirdman]

Looks good, keep in mind that you might need an alignment after though and count how many turns it takes to take off the tie rods so you can put them back on with the same amount of turns.

 

[Freebeer187]

Thanks for the info. Im going right now to the local mechanic to have them look at it. Im tired of assuming and guessing whats going on. Ill post what the verdict is later on.

 

[Ron Vogel]

Good advice. If your going to do it, may as well do it right and replace the other side. The only thing is im strapped on cash...

So after your replace the LCA, you have to get an alignment? Damn I forgot about that.

Yeah, a good thing (saying) to remember is "pay now, or pay later"

I'm creeping close to 200K on my car, suspension has been rebuilt 3 times already...

 

[Freebeer187]

Hehe i see good point.

 

[Freebeer187]

Just got back from the repair shop. They popped the car up and showed me whats going on. The good news is that none of this needs to be done asap as it wont necessarily be a saftey hazard. It simply is going to be noisey. This is what they said:

1. LCA's bushings are failing and will need to be replaced. They mentioned that completley replacing the LCA's are not necessary. So simply replacing the bushing is all that is necessary. The ball joints and tie rods are fine.

2. The Stabilizer bar Links will need to be replaced.

3. Alignment.

Parts and labor was quoted at just under $500.

They also noted the driver side sway bar has a very tiny crack in it and should be replaced. This was not quoted.

I think these are the Stability Links that they are refering to. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?catalog=11&partnum=K5342&a=FR11-K5342-171148 Correct me if this does not make sense.

Now I have quote from rock auto for good parts for $275. That includes tie rods which isnt even quoted at the above shop. Would it be a better idea to replace the control arms in whole rather than just the bushings? The car has 90K on it. The LCA's look like crap (all rusted and beat up). Im thinking get the parts and have someone on here do it (bikrboy ). It will probably be in the same ball park cost and I will get more out of it. What do you guys think?

 

[Ron Vogel]

Yeah, but the parts and have someone do it, then get it aligned. If you need work done, I've done dozens of those, not a problem.

The swaybar's always crack in the front, not a bad time to throw the GMPP bar in, it's cheaper than stock...comes with the bushings too. The tie rod end has to be removed on one side to get it in, so it's easier during other suspension work for the install.

 

[Freebeer187]

Great Ron ill be getting it done sooner or later. Atm i need tires more importantly. I think im going to need your help building an amp more atm