Mongo

Hey guys how do you check for ball joint wear besides complete disassembly of the arms? I seem to be getting that typical shake at 55-60 mph that is a notorious sign of ball joints (yeesh I though I was going to get away with not replacing control arms). Any way to check and see if there is play in that part of the suspension with the car jacked up?

testarossa_td

Don't you jack up the car and grab the wheel in question at 12 and 6 and push and pull opposites ?

tifosiman

Jack the car up. Put a flat prybar or large flathead screwdriver between the bottom of the pinch area of the spindle (that holds the top of the balljoint pin) and the lip at the end of the a-arm that is around the balljoint, and attempt to pry up the spindle. If there is play and/or movement up and down, the balljoint bushing is shot.

Mongo

That's it Tifo! I remember someone telling me a while back how to check it but I couldn't remember what to pry on the suspension. I have a pry bar at home so I'll check it out sometime this week. I wouldn't be surprised of they were shot though. It doesn't look like they have ever been replaced on this car.

Many thanks

Rod Thomson

Have a look at Clarks Garage. I think the technique is to get some large channel lock pliers and squeeze the joint together. I just did one of mine with the joint replacement from Rennbay. Took probably three hours to do it. The next one I do will take less than an hour. The main struggle was the snap ring. I used the "2x4 with a hole drilled in it" method and what I learned was that you really have to crank down on the backing plate if you are using a C-clamp. You need to get the snap ring to spin freely in the grove. Comes out real easy if you have the space. If not it ain't comming at all.