Swappable front ball joints?

[Lindenwood]

Is it possible to modify the arms to make the ball joints replaceable, even with an aftermarket option? I don’t like the idea of having to continually re-press the spherical bearings into new arms every time a ball joint wears a bit and starts making noise.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

How many ball joints have you got through so far and which ones have given the most issues?
Age of car? Mileage? Number of events?

I've still got some noises I've yet to diagnose so it's possible they are the issue, but I haven't found any obvious play in any of them while on the car, so I'm interested to hear your experiences even though I can't help answer your question!

 

[Lindenwood]

At maybe 12 months and 25k miles (lots of road trips) and maybe 7 AutoX events plus two track days, I started hearing the dreaded “ball joint rattle.” I have experienced failing ball joints before and was familiar with that low-load heavy rattling. Still, I went through every nut and bolt on the suspension a half dozen times, replaced the front top hats, added CR bearings, etc. I even tricked myself a couple times thinking I’d found the culprit only to realize I just hadn’t hit the right bumps in my test drives.

I ended up swapping in a new set of LCAs and CRs out of desperation to replace those ball joints, which finally told me one of those 4 ball joints was the culprit. However, these were cheap parts from Rock Auto, so the noise is starting to come back after about 10k miles or so.

I’d love to be able to drill maybe an 8-10mm pin hole on the backside of the joint to be able to push the ball joints back out with a punch, but I’m not sure if they are held in just by press-fitting, or via some interference method that would damage the arms upon removal.

 

[Black306]

I ended up swapping in a new set of LCAs and CRs out of desperation to replace those ball joints, which finally told me one of those 4 ball joints was the culprit. However, these were cheap parts from Rock Auto, so the noise is starting to come back after about 10k miles or so.

Which brand did you go with?

 

[Lindenwood]

Which brand did you go with?

Truly whichever was cheapest on Rock Auto. I think all four arms were maybe $70 each. I was just trying to confirm it was those. That said, I am also not confident OEM ones are particularly more durable either.

I’d happily spend more than that on higher-end individual joints that I press into the arms myself so I end up with durable joints at each end of those arms…

 

[superflyrolla]

Following. It would be great if we could press in a $10-$20 ball joint.

I've had similar experience. The OEM ball joints lasted years but started clunking shortly after installing compression sphericals on the other end. If your service center isn't nearby, OEM is still difficult to get. It would be nice if the Highland arms are upgraded but they look the same to me. The Suspensia ball joints only last a couple months. Moog seemed a little better. I'm tempted to buy the Powerflex arms with lifetime warranty. They're expensive and I'm not sure I want to try claiming warranty on parts across the Atlantic yet though.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Following. It would be great if we could press in a $10-$20 ball joint.

I've had similar experience. The OEM ball joints lasted years but started clunking shortly after installing compression sphericals on the other end. If your service center isn't nearby, OEM is still difficult to get. It would be nice if the Highland arms are upgraded but they look the same to me. The Suspensia ball joints only last a couple months. Moog seemed a little better. I'm tempted to buy the Powerflex arms with lifetime warranty. They're expensive and I'm not sure I want to try claiming warranty on parts across the Atlantic yet though.

When this happens, can you feel any play with the arms still on the car or do you need to remove them to confirm it's the ball joints?

 

[dsgerbc]

With the two bad CR ball joints I've experienced, it was impossible to tell while still bolted to the car. After undoing the joint, the extra slop in the bad one was pretty clear.
Someone like @MountainPass should make a complete arm with MPP.R caster bearing and a serviceable ball joint.

 

[superflyrolla]

Agreed with @dsgerbc, I couldn't tell by crawling under the car, other than if you have a spherical bushing on the rear arm, the whole arm flops around by hand. The clunking over joints in pavement is very noticeable.

 

[Lindenwood]

Agreed with @dsgerbc, I couldn't tell by crawling under the car, other than if you have a spherical bushing on the rear arm, the whole arm flops around by hand. The clunking over joints in pavement is very noticeable.

That was my observation as well.

 

[MountainPass]

With the two bad CR ball joints I've experienced, it was impossible to tell while still bolted to the car. After undoing the joint, the extra slop in the bad one was pretty clear.
Someone like @MountainPass should make a complete arm with MPP.R caster bearing and a serviceable ball joint.

You have my attention

 

[Firehuntah]

You have my attention

Make it happen and take all of our money!

I also did have bad ball joints on my compliance links/compression rods. Couldn't find where the noise I had was coming from since there was no play anywhere but after replacing the compliance links/compression rods for some other issue I had the noise was suddenly gone. I still have some other noise as well and I now suspect the ball joint of the lateral link/front lower control arm.

Would be really great if we could buy complete MPP arms/links for the lower front suspension, just like the front upper control arms and the rear links. I'm pretty sure you'd sell lots of them, especially since for most people it'll be easier than having to press out the bushings and press in your bearings. It'll be more expensive of course but would be worth it I think.

 

[Lindenwood]

You have my attention

I volunteer as a tester…..

 

[Lindenwood]

A quick google search supports my suspicion that one should not conduct unlimited replacements of press-fit ball joints.

(I.e. DON’T REPLACE A ‘PRESSED-IN’ BALL JOINT MORE THAN ONCE. )

I’m not sure if there is space for a bolt-in ball joint.