[downest]

I'm going to replace the ball joints in my car tonight, I think they may be the cause of my clunking and vibration under braking. I was also thinking about maybe doing the tie rod ends or rack end bushing while I'm in there, I will check them first when I get it on the lift.
Any advice for doing the ball joints? I have a hydraulic press and all the tools, I just haven't done them before. They were an absolute bitch to get off before when I was swapping the motor, I think they are stuck to the LCA pretty solidly.
Should I replace the uppers as well? Is there a way to tell which is bad?

 

[Robb]

Just replace every thing on the front end and the problem will be solved.

They will all need replacing by now anyway.

 

[RamaCrx]

The upper one is the one that usually goes bad first from my experience. You can buy the whole assembly together and not have to deal with removing it. It was not much money extra.

 

[jfrolang]

Just replace everything

Sometimes that solution just doesn't fit in the budget.

 

[downest]

I called NAPA, they want $24 each for the lowers and $45 for the uppers.

What's the lifetime on these? My car only has 75k miles.

What do you mean the whole assembly? The UCA with the thing already in? That's not much of an issue to me, I have a press, I think getting them in and out will be the easy part.

 

[Dilbert]

The napa here said it would be $30 for an upper balljoint. If you go to Honda they ONLY sell the upper already pressed into the full assembly. They wanted $188 for that.... F'n Stupid.

 

[RamaCrx]

about $80 bucks for 2 upper control arms and ball joints on ebay including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-Upper- ... enameZWDVW

 

[rex2nr]

I didn't think you could get just the upper ball joints from anywhere. I have always seen the entire control arm, and the lowers, nothing else.

 

[ollie]

Tom,
I do all chassis/suspension repair at my work.So am I assuming that you are worried about seperating the lower BJ from the arm?
What I do is this:Apply pressure to the LCA by means of a good length prybar or REALLY long screwdriver.While you do this smack the LCA near the BJ with a good Large size hammer.The shock from the hammer blows frees the BJ from the LCA.
I am assuming this is what you are talking about.If I misread this sorry buddy.

 

[downest]

Tom,
I do all chassis/suspension repair at my work.So am I assuming that you are worried about seperating the lower BJ from the arm?
What I do is this:Apply pressure to the LCA by means of a good length prybar or REALLY long screwdriver.While you do this smack the LCA near the BJ with a good Large size hammer.The shock from the hammer blows frees the BJ from the LCA.
I am assuming this is what you are talking about.If I misread this sorry buddy.

Thanks ollie, I got that trick from Heu a while back. Unfortunately, it didn't work well on the new car. I have a nice separator tool here at the shop though, so it's not my main concern. I just don't want to spend extra money that I don't need to. I wish I had a better diagnosis of the problem.