9 replies to this topic

[TeninoFred]

I had my car serviced today (90K) and it was found that I am in dire need of a lower ball joint on the driver side. Where is the best place to find these? It appears Honda no longer supplies them at the dealers. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Fred

[curtperry]

I had my car serviced today (90K) and it was found that I am in dire need of a lower ball joint on the driver side. Where is the best place to find these? It appears Honda no longer supplies them at the dealers. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Fred

You need a whole new lower control arm with ball joint included

on rockauto.com navigate their parts catalog to 1987 : HONDA : CIVIC CRX SI : Suspension : Control Arm
priced from $45 to $110 depending on brand/quality

personally i would choose this one:
$44.79
MCQUAY-NORRIS Part # FA1499
Lower Control Arm FRONT SUSP - LEFT - COMPLETE ARM w/BALL JOINT [Wholesaler Closeout - Private Label Pkg. - 30 Day Warranty]

Their wholesaler closeout prices are often close to half-off original price

Edited by curtperry, 20 October 2010 - 01:27 AM.

[EuphoricBlue]

What he said^

In our cars the ball joint is pressed directly into the control arm.

It's possible you might be able to source one from honda, perhapse the guy helping you simply didn't notice or care enought to check. You could go back and ask for a control arm... but there's not much reason not to get it elsewhere, like the place he mentioned.

[greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's]

My beater 87 crx has ~205K on it now w/ the original ball joints and tie rod ends. BUt I've religiously replaced those boot once I'd see cracking to the point I felt grease would start coming out. I'll grab a crow bar every now and then and check them.

So I think the OEM joints are very rebust unless you've got performance enhancements and/or drive excessive.

did the shop show you it was bad while it was up on the hoist? Assume boot was torn and dirt got in there?? Just good idea to be sure you're not taken for a ride. A shop tried to ride me 20yrs ago and I've not taken my cars back since and have done my own maintenance.

90K seems too low for ball joints in our cars unless the boot failed. But those are my experiences. Or are we talking about a non 1g/3g car?

D

[TeninoFred]

Hi all, thanks for the info and suggestions. My 90K service was just for timing belt and other serivice items. My friend is the mechanic and I have been working on cars with him since I was 15. So I trust him. Here's a link to his shop's website:

www.driveduncan.com

My hotrod I built with him is even in the gallery right in the middle. The purple t bucket roadster. Anyway, we had the car on the hoist and looked for other problems that needed to be taken care of. It is the original ball joint/arm and I just turned 265K so I probably think it's legitimate that it is worn out. I took your suggestion to order the one from Rockauto. I might even buy both sides and do both of them while I am at it. Thanks again for the great feedback and suggestions.

Fred

[firstgencrx]

Didn't want to thread jack, so....

http://www.redpepper...showtopic=49534

[NurburgRinger]

Don't forget to order new radius arm bushings.
Replacement photos here:
http://www.redpepper...e...c=48142&hl=

[TeninoFred]

Don't forget to order new radius arm bushings.
Replacement photos here:
http://www.redpepper...e...c=48142&hl=

Got both ball joints replaced today and front end aligned. Man it drives like a new car. Thanks for all the help everyone.

Fred

[greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's]

Glad you got 'er taken care of Fred.

My beater drives a bit wishy washy. Been considering replacing all the suspension bushings. Did you end up doing some bushings as well??

D

[TeninoFred]

Glad you got 'er taken care of Fred.

My beater drives a bit wishy washy. Been considering replacing all the suspension bushings. Did you end up doing some bushings as well??

D

No, but I did order them from South Bay Honda last FRI and they aren't going to ship out till tomorrow. I couldn't wait to get the new arms and joint in. I am having a small operation MON and would be a week from Saturday before I would get to it. My bushings ended up being just fine too. So I might have a back up set or would sell to someone if they wanted. But it sure does feel good to ride straight down the road and feel solid at 80.