pnbell

Are all Late Model Control Arm Ball Joints Rebuildable?

I have an 87' 944na and my passenger side ball joint is torn; not sure if i have steel or aluminium a-arms...

Anyway with a Ball Joint kit like the one on RennBay, could i do a rebuild?

This weekend i amhoping to do the Koni Hacksaw Insert Mod, and figured it would be a good time to tackle the ball joints.

Thanks!

sydneyman

i don't think they are rebuildable without a press. i also think all late control arms are aluminum.

i just took mine off and sent them away to "Mainely by design". I think the guy's name is Bob? Pleasure to deal with and for 300 bucks they cleaned them up, pressed in new joints and rubber bushings(didn't include the castor block though) and shipped them out to me. didn't even take a core charge.

MG944

The ball joint rebuild process is simple enough. It takes about 15-20 minutes a side once out. DONT buy a kit without bronze bushings. All late 85 and up oval dash cars have aluminum arms. Also there is a company on eBay (deutsch parts) that sells the 968 style rear bushings for $90 a pair. You can call and order over the phone too. Then either Weltmeister or delrin bushings for the front. You will need a hacksaw to cut out your steel liners to use those bushings. Feel free to ask any other questions. Just did the job myself.

JohnKoaWood

http://reutterwerk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28296

There ya go, NO not all are rebuildable, check your arms to ensure each side has a snap ring epoxied into the ridge.. no snap ring, no rebuild, need new arm....

ALL post 86 cars use the same arms, however there were 2 different ball joint setups...

Rebuildable on left, non on right, both are late offset alloy arms!

Dougs951

Looks like we are doing the same projects! If you are pulling the arms put new bushings in too. They can be a pita to get off sometimes.

pnbell

Well at this point i have ordered the Koni inserts (1414s for the Hacksaw Mod) and The Deluxe Rebuild kit from Paragon.

From what i recall, they look like the A-Arm on the left... Hopefully...!

Dougs951

Are you using the stock springs, I have some turbo springs that I could sell.

pnbell

Hmmmm, your tackling some front suspension/ball joint work too!?? Cool!

I thought NA and Turbo springs were about the same...?

Dougs951

After looking for a few mins it looks like you are right.

And yea I have Koni sports and a front coil over kit in the mail, along with all new bushings, ball joints and steering components.

pettybird

is there a year/break for which cars got the rebuildable arms?

951red86

They seem to have the same casting number whether they are rebuildable or not, so I don't how you would tell until you pulled it apart, aside from the circlip. On my car one arm had been rebuilt/replaced but the other wasn't rebuildable (had a different socket design).

It seems like there's no surefire way to tell whether it's rebuildable though, bit of a PITA...