Ball Joint Replacement?

[zoidberg444]

Just wondering if i could consult the hive mind on here.

Done some major work on my car recently including a front end replacement after a minor collision and the clutch. I had initially hoped to pop the lower ball joint out and avoid having the get the tracking done but in the end i had to pop the two upper bolts out the knuckle to free the axles because everything was so seized and hadn't been apart in 11 years/130,000 miles.

I think one of my ball joints may be leaking a little grease, i can't see a hole in the boot so it must be a small hole. I know Toyota only sells the very expensive control arms as a whole assembly. Has anyone gone aftermarket with ball joints? I checked a few parts places and I've seen several that supposedly fit including a Lemförder brand one. Anyone done it? Have you regretted it?

[tmontague]

You can use a grease fun with a needle on the end to re fill the mount with grease. Unless it's shot (loose) then I wouldn't change it yet.

But if you do want to change it You could go 2 ways. One, change the whole control arm with an aftermarket one that comes with new bushings and a ball joint. They can be found fairly cheap and my experience was they last at least 40k km (i scrapped my car before the aftermarket control arms wore out). Only thing is you are going to want to make sure the old ones will come out due to the corrosion before you order new ones.

Option 2 is to make sure you have the right press tool and just order an aftermarket ball joint and just press them in the control arms.

Only aftermarket I have experience with for ball joints is Moog when they come with grease fittings which is a plus

[zoidberg444]

Originally Posted by tmontague

You can use a grease fun with a needle on the end to re fill the mount with grease. Unless it's shot (loose) then I wouldn't change it yet.

But if you do want to change it You could go 2 ways. One, change the whole control arm with an aftermarket one that comes with new bushings and a ball joint. They can be found fairly cheap and my experience was they last at least 40k km (i scrapped my car before the aftermarket control arms wore out). Only thing is you are going to want to make sure the old ones will come out due to the corrosion before you order new ones.

Option 2 is to make sure you have the right press tool and just order an aftermarket ball joint and just press them in the control arms.

Only aftermarket I have experience with for ball joints is Moog when they come with grease fittings which is a plus

Thanks for the input mate.

I think either option will be pretty unpleasent on my vehicle. When i did the clutch i had a right fun time trying to get the rear engine mount bolt out of the sub frame. I can only imagine how bad the control arm bolts are.

I think i will get the tools and the ball joints ready for when they do go.

I remember looking for ball joints a few years ago when i saw how expensive the OEM control arms were and there wasn't anything on the parts websites but all of a sudden there seem to be options. Strange. I'll wait and see.

[IllusionX]

It's more work pressing out a ball joint for replacement than switching the actual control arm. That's why dealers don't do it.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

It's more work pressing out a ball joint for replacement than switching the actual control arm. That's why dealers don't do it.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

In a non corroded car, yes. However in a corroded car with a seized control arm bolt to the bushing it will take hrs to remove.

With a proper c type press it can be removed with the control arm still on the car of you pull the knuckle out of the way. There is very little room fornrust to build up on the ball joint and control arm mating surface so a press makes quick work.

Oddly enough when I replaced the control arms on my '02 Echo a couple years ago, they came out very easily. There was 340k km on it and it was never oil sprayed. My Vibe with 250k km was a totally different story...