ammonman

I need some help with how to check my upper A-arms for wear in the ball joint. I am positive the bushings are shot but I don't want to replace the bushings if the ball joints are toast also. The boots on the ball joints were torn when I go the car but I don't know how long. The last time I had the front wheels up in the air I pre-loaded the suspension with a floor jack and used a long bar to try and move the ball joints but there wasn't anywhere to get a good fulcrum to pry on the joint. Before I go to the trouble of separating the upper joint from the knuckle and checking the play in the joint is there a more definite way to tell?

I am getting noise from the front suspension the first few times I apply the brakes. After backing out from a parking space I also get some popping when the brakes are applied. I'm hoping the worn out bushings are the cause of all that.

So what is the best way to be sure the upper joints are OK?

Mike

dr bob

The joint is somewhat only loaded in compression when there is weight on the front suspension, and lightly loaded in tension when the suspension is completely unloaded. You can usually use a pry bar or a jack to loador unload the ball point to see if it's got play you can feel. The real test is the same but uses a dial indicator to measure the motion needed on the spindle before the a-arm moves. How much is too much? I'm not sure. More than a couple thousanths would seem to be too much.

If the bushings are shot and the ball joints were exposed to dirt/water/etc for a while, you are a candidate for control arms for sure. The pry bar test isn't complex. Most of the work is getting the car on stands and getting the wheels off. The bar can be between the top of a rotor and the bottom of the control arm, with the suspension at full extension. The shock limits the down position of the spindle, so it's relatively easy to test motion on the upper balljoint by stretching it as you lift the control arm. It doesn't take much with the joint unloaded like this.

Tom in Austin

For the time and effort getting the arm off to do the bushings, why not do the bj's at the same time? Mark at 928 Intl has rebuilt late arms for $385 ea that have new bushings and bj's. I'm planning to put these on my car when I get around to doing new shocks

worf928

If the motor is in the car: +57 Billion.

ammonman

Well, that's the thing. If the ball joints are good, I'll re-boot them for now and do the new bushings this winter when I have the engine out to do MM, OPG, rod brgs., seals, TB/WP, etc. If the ball joints are shot, I will replace the arms now.

Mike

worf928

If you are planning on pulling the motor "this winter" which is what? Three months away? Wait to mess with the control arms until then.

ammonman

Being in Arkansas "winter" is a relative term. I am planning February. I also have a front ride height issue I need to address so was hoping to get ride height and front suspension tackled all at once with only one alignment. You are right it is probably best to wait until the engine is out.

Mike

ammonman

Just an update on my upper A-arms. I popped the upper ball joints apart this weekend to check them and install new boots if they were still good. The upper joints do not have any play and are plenty tight. They are not as tight as a new joint, but they are still very serviceable with no corrosion on the visible parts of the ball. The bushings however are shot and are the source of my front end noise. After looking more closely at the location of the nuts I decided to go ahead and pull the arms and replace the bushings now. Not too difficult getting the arms out. Getting the bushings out was the biggest pain. Once I had the arms out I clamped the cross bar in my vise and it was easy to feel the play in the bushings. The one thing I did that made getting the old bushings out easier was to drill out the rubber between the inner and outer sleeve instead of burning it out. A 1/4" drill bit made short work of the rubber and allowed the center bushing to come out easy as you please. Both my upper arms are now bushing free.

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

MIke

Sailmed

So does this mean you don't want to sell the car back?

ammonman

Depends. How much ya got? Enough for me to get a nice GTS? Or a nice Euro five speed thats been in a time capsule?