Black Arrow

Hey!

Look at these pictures! Is this how it should look like? I was going to do a rebuild, but couldnt get everything out! I got the buttom clip and plate, but after that nothing will come out! There wasn`t even a spring under there, like it should.

This is how it look likes and all the parts I took away so far:





Please help! Is this an aftermarket joint ball? Why cant I get everything out? Even tried to hammer a littlebit at the jointball to get everything out, nothing happenings.

Black Arrow

btw: the plate in there is typed with TRW 120

tifosiman

Not rebuildable.

Someone has put a press-in bearing ballset in there when it was rebuilt last time.

You need a new a-arm, or one that hasn't been f'd up in this manner and is rebuildable, sorry for the bad news.

F18Rep

Interesting, I've never seen this pressed in ball joint done. If you plan to scrap the arm, why not press out the old one and see what damage has been done - let us know what you find...Bruce

Kimple

Black Beauty:
My car had exactly the same thing made to the control arm. TRW 120 ball joint pressed into machined slot in control arm. I was a bit suprised to see this when I was trying to rebuild the arm with Rennbay rebuild kit My car was originally used in Sweden, so maybe some workshop in Sweden does these things? Do you know who/where your car was serviced in past?

I think your options are either get new "TRW 120" and press it in there (not safe in my opinion) or scrap the arm and get a new or rebuild one.

Good luck

tifosiman

Fairly common actually. Although most of them are not TRW kits, they are "Febi" kits. The arm is machined out and sealed joint is pressed in. The arm is no longer able to be rebuilt with Rennbay, SSI, KLA, or similar kits.

When purchasing "rebuilt" a-arms from the likes of Mid-America and Performance, this is what you normally get.

Black Arrow

Oh no! Thats bad! A new arm cost to much.. Well, I guess I dont have any oppertunity! :P

My car has been in Norway for the last 7 years, and was imported from Germany before that. Dont really know who has been doing that rebuild to the a-arm.. Could sandèn in Sweden do that? Never mind, I`ll put it back together and get a new one in the winter.

tifosiman: is this normally a good rebuild? Does these joints often go bad, or should it hold for a long time?

tifosiman

You can probably pick up a good, used, and rebuildable a-arm fairly cheaply compared to a brand new one. You might want to shoot an email over to Travis at Rennbay.com. When he was at the Hershey Porsche swap meet earlier this year he went thru and cleared the place out of a-arms to stock up. If he doesn't have one, send a PM to "tod84944", he is parting out several cars.

As far as longevity of the pressed in joints, I don't know. I can tell you that when I purchased my car, in the stack of receipts was a receipt for a "rebuilt" right a-arm purchase and install about 2 years before I bought it (which was about 6000 miles prior). I put about another 4500 miles on it in 2 years time before the right one had significant play in it. So it was about 4 years, 10,500 miles in the case of my car. When I pulled the arm off to rebuild (at that time having no idea what a "febi" kit was), I found the same thing you did and had to source a used a-arm from a fellow rennlister. I don't know how the car was driven before I bought it, but I don't think it was driven too hard. I did several autox events with stiff springs installed, but the car was/is not a daily driver for me and rarely sees bad weather or rough roads.

Good luck!

Black Arrow

Thanx mate!
Preciate your input!

Need to find a a-arm then! And all I want to do is to drive..

J_Kapp

How can you tell when a ball joint needs to be replaced? Do you have to take the a-arm off and make a visual inspection, or are the signs you notice while driving?

eniac

How do you tell if used arms are rebuildable or not? I was keeping a set off my '88 around to rebuild myself but I may consider selling them. Of course I would want to make sure they are rebuildable prior to any sale.

tifosiman

Stick a prybar or large flathead screwdriver between the end of the a-arm and the knuckle on the spindle that holds the top of the BJ pin, and pry. If there is play and the pin moved in/out of the socket in the arm, it needs rebuilt.

The only way to tell for certain is to remove the balljoint and inspect the socket. The top lip of the socket must be in good condition and show no damage, wear, or cracks, and the inside of the socket should be smooth and round with no scored areas, cracks, or chunks out of it. Without removing the balljoint, you would just be guessing at the condition based on the outward appearance.

J_Kapp

Thanks!