uh oh, good news/bad news

[skid542]

Today is the first day of my spring break, amen , and I finally got a chance to get my car off the ground and check out that knock I've been hearing. Previously I was suspecting that it was something in the strut assembly but wanted to check bushings, balljoints, etc. just in case. Well I found that my ball joint it shot. I'm assuming it's the joint because the boot is cracked all the way around and is much flatter than the other side. Now here I think is the definative, and alarming, thing. The bottom nut that has the cotter pin going through it, well there's about 3/32" of a gap between the nut and the A-arm.

This gap is what worries me. I have been slack about getting this checked out I'll admit and I should have looked earlier, damn, really wish I'd looked earlier. With this much gap is there a chance I've caused more damage and wear to the rest of the system beyond just replacing the ball joint? I have been babying the Legacy, aside from the snow outings. I've avoided the dirt roads for a few weeks now and take all the bumps I see as easy as I can but what else should I look for to be damaged?

Here's the next question. I had to have the balljoint on the other side replaced over the summer and my shop charged about 100 for part and labor to do such. I wouldn't mind saving a little money and doing this myself but I haven't done a ball joint before. Reading through the Hayne's manual it doesn't look too bad but I am under the impression that without the right tools it can be a little difficult to get stuff apart. So just how hard is this to replace?

Thanks guys.

[skid542]

Well I just got off the phone with my mechanic, quoted me at $110 for parts and labor and to check the toe in. I called NAPA and can get the ball joint for $24.43. My time is worth a hell of a lot less than 80 dollars so I'm going to do this myself. That have been decided, what kind of tools should I look to be getting/renting. Does autozone or anybody rent out the balljoint seperators or are they cheap? I'll still have my mechanic check the toe in after I'm done though, unless you all think it's unnecessary.

[runnyD]

I did my ball joint not to long ago. I would have a friend help when you go to put it back together, ie the control arm needs to be lowered enough to get the ball joint back in place and that takes some muscle

I got a bit happy with my new air tools and torqued out the bolt hugging the ball joint inside. So I had to drill it out.. Not to fun. The bolt has a shoulder on it...And that was the only part that came out..

[professor]

you need to seriously inspect the hole in the control arm for damage, that is a taper fit and must be tight. if somehow the nut loosened and the taper fell out, it has been banging around and your control arm is ruined. the nut should be castleated with a cotter pin to prevent that, look at the other side for reference.

balljoints are easy to replace, cuz you can beat the crap out of the old one

[skid542]

I don't have any phnematics tools so no worries there. Just my trusty craftsmen socket and wrenches. Did you use one of the ball joint seperators or just a prybar or a large screw driver?

[professor]

you don't need a separator. loosen the nut on the balljoint stud several threads worth, pry between the control arm and the knuckle with the bfs, and then strike the control arm sharply with a hammer, swinging the hammer in the plane of the control arm, hitting it right where the stud goes through the end of the control arm. it will pop right out after one or a couple sharp blows. you wont hurt anything.

don't completely remove the nut before banging or everything will fly apart suddenly, and on some cars, whack the shit out of you with great force if you're in the way.

[skid542]

Good to know I won't need to pick up a seperator, thanks. I'll definately check out the control arm and make sure everthing looks alright. The nut has the cleats in it and the cotter pin goes through the cleats so the nut hasn't been spinning and yet there is still that 1/16" or so gap. That's why I'm a little worried....

[Kelly]

Id go pull another arm from the wrecker. The u pull it here sold one to me for $22, with a decent ball joint still in it.

[skid542]

That's better than what I can get a new ball joint for. Problem is I don't know of any u-pull it's around here. There's a few junkyards but I think they strip most of their stuff themselves but I'll call around. I wouldn't think it'd be too much more though and I'd be plenty happy with a used but good ball joint. If I have to do the arm, will there be any bushings or anything that will haveto be replaced.

[skid542]

Okay, I'm going to call around tomorrow and source myself a control arm with a ball joint on it. One quick question though - what years and models are going to work for my 93' NA. I'm pressuming any 93-94 but wasn't sure about the earlier ones or later ones. Thanks.

[skid542]

I picked up a lower control arm with a ball joint from a junkyard for 35 dollars. They warrenty the ball joint for 6 months so I figure I can handle that. Also came with an endlink attached, so I got a spare I guess. Took less than 2 hours from wheel up to wheel down and has completely solved the problem. Steering definately feels tighter and I haven't gotten it to knock once today. Tomorrow I'm getting the alignment done and I'm going to get a write up done when I get a chance. Thanks all for the help.