balljoints and tie rods, what brands?

[jp233]

OK, this is for the '93 FWD beater/commuter wagon, which has destroyed balljoint boots and steering rack boots. The steering wheel has a lot of slop so the wheel bearings probably need to get done also. Damn steering wheel has about a 40 degree offset to being level with the car driving straight... lazy shops in the past obviously have never re-centered the wheel when doing alignments. I just want to get the front end together solid, so it will last and I stop worrying about a balljoint stud snapping and me losing a wheel.

Please note that I am not trying to upgrade the suspension, rod this car out of anything. I want to apply K.I.S.S. and keep my costs down.

what balljoints work well for these cars? good fitment, good bots, etc? I had a nightmare with balljoints a few years back on another car, which just seemed too big diameter and would NOT press into the control arms. I'm a fan of TRW/Moog... looks like the TRW 104141 is about $29 at Advance and a stocked item. Anyone used these??

Same questions about tie rods.... TRW prices look great and I've had good luck with TRW parts on other vehicles. opinions??

I do have the chance to get a whole steering rack out of a junkyard (~$40). There was one rack frmo a 91 FWD sedan which looked good, with no ripped steering boots, although the dash cluster was gone so I do not know the mileage of the car. But it looked solid with no huge leaks around it at least from what I could tell just glancing at it. And I wonder if the tie rods were good, I wouldn't be concerned with replacing the outers on that one if the rest of it is good. Might be my best option, just replace the whole rack and if I get good inner tie rods with it, bonus.

That car in the yard also had KYB GR2's on it.... hmm....

so.... what balljoints & tie rods have y'all had good expierences??

and wheel bearings + seals ??

[jamal]

Just get some OEM balljoints and tie rods. I don't think the price from subarugenuineparts is going to be much different from whatever you get at a parts store.

[stipro]

Just a note, as far as ball joints go, if you can find the manufacturer called "Three Five" You can get them for less than dealer prices. The "three five" brand are the one's that subaru uses just not in a subaru box. They have the exact subaru part number printed on the box.

[ericem]

With ball joints is there any alignment required?? Do they come with the boot ?

[skid542]

If you're going to go OEM, get the Whiteline RCA kit. It will come with the ball joints and tie rod ends. You can get this kit for less than OEM, though it won't come with the steering rack boots that you need. But if you need just the boots, you can get those by themselves. The RCA kit will flatten out your front end during corning a bit. Not drastic, but noticable. Just another option to consider.

Eric - the ball joints will come with boots. You won't need an alignment provided you don't mess with the tie rod ends. You can replace just the ball joints without touching them though, just disconnect your sway bar, loosen the pinch bolt, take off the castle nut, and then pop it out and reverse the process.

[Legacy777]

Lee,

What is the part # for the whiteline RCA kit that fits our cars. I did a little looking on the kits for my impreza since I'm replacing the ball joints & tie rods.....and I didn't really find much info, plus price was definitely more money then what I got the ball joints & tie rods for.

I think you have a thread around here.....I'm just lazy and haven't searched

[skid542]

Josh, I'll look for the P/N when I get home this evening. I think I still have it around.

I still need to write up a review on these, I've been lazy... .

It was definately a noticable difference though.

[jamal]

Lee,

What is the part # for the whiteline RCA kit that fits our cars. I did a little looking on the kits for my impreza since I'm replacing the ball joints & tie rods.....and I didn't really find much info, plus price was definitely more money then what I got the ball joints & tie rods for.

I think you have a thread around here.....I'm just lazy and haven't searched

I think there's only one kit and it works on all subarus. Even the 08 imprezas.

[n2x4]

Lee,

What is the part # for the whiteline RCA kit that fits our cars. I did a little looking on the kits for my impreza since I'm replacing the ball joints & tie rods.....and I didn't really find much info, plus price was definitely more money then what I got the ball joints & tie rods for.

I think you have a thread around here.....I'm just lazy and haven't searched

I think there's only one kit and it works on all subarus. Even the 08 imprezas.

Jamal's right... Just one kit.

[Legacy777]

Hmm.....well it's probably too late anyway....I've got the stock parts coming.

[jp233]

ok, i'm going to go see about the whole rack in the junkyard soon, since if it's nice, i'll grab that for cheap and then probably look into the RCA kit. unless the outer tie rods from the junkyard rack are good.

I'm assuming the Whiteline RCA kit is p/n # KCA313 http://www.maperformance.com/store/prod ... t=0&page=2

at $177 from that place, it's close to the same price as OEM or parts house parts, + appears to add some performance capability (which I'm not really interested in, but would be fine with me)

[internetautomart]

OK, this is for the '93 FWD beater/commuter wagon, which has destroyed balljoint boots and steering rack boots. The steering wheel has a lot of slop so the wheel bearings probably need to get done also. Damn steering wheel has about a 40 degree offset to being level with the car driving straight... lazy shops in the past obviously have never re-centered the wheel when doing alignments. I just want to get the front end together solid, so it will last and I stop worrying about a balljoint stud snapping and me losing a wheel.

Please note that I am not trying to upgrade the suspension, rod this car out of anything. I want to apply K.I.S.S. and keep my costs down.

what balljoints work well for these cars? good fitment, good bots, etc? I had a nightmare with balljoints a few years back on another car, which just seemed too big diameter and would NOT press into the control arms. I'm a fan of TRW/Moog... looks like the TRW 104141 is about $29 at Advance and a stocked item. Anyone used these??

Same questions about tie rods.... TRW prices look great and I've had good luck with TRW parts on other vehicles. opinions??

I do have the chance to get a whole steering rack out of a junkyard (~$40). There was one rack frmo a 91 FWD sedan which looked good, with no ripped steering boots, although the dash cluster was gone so I do not know the mileage of the car. But it looked solid with no huge leaks around it at least from what I could tell just glancing at it. And I wonder if the tie rods were good, I wouldn't be concerned with replacing the outers on that one if the rest of it is good. Might be my best option, just replace the whole rack and if I get good inner tie rods with it, bonus.

That car in the yard also had KYB GR2's on it.... hmm....

so.... what balljoints & tie rods have y'all had good expierences??

and wheel bearings + seals ??

On the ball joints stick with a quality brand (moog is 555 in the box last I looked) the tie rods I don't worry about as much since even the cheap crap has never catastrophically failed on me. but the ball joints have been a beatch to install because of stupid crapola.

as much as I'm sure it's already done by now, if it's not let me know and I'll see what sort of package price I can do for ya.

[jp233]

nope not done now. I will be free next weekend to go to the junkyard and see what they've got as far as steering racks and shocks etc.

I know what you mean about balljoints. They are always a beotch to install, this car I'm expecting will be no different. Although this car has been in rust-free Georgia for 10 years now, it's first 5 were in the rusty craphole of Taxachusetts.

This is why I want to put decent/good/great ones in there, not el cheapo Autozone Duralast junk. This is why I went with heavy duty Moog stuff for everything on my truck, I never ever want to do that job again.

tie rods are a simple thing, never hard to change and yeah, they are hard to fugg up w.r.t. manufacturing.

[SILINC3R]

could not help but notice that you are from georgia.

[Reiji Dorifuta]

At 225K (with the first 220,000 driven in Hillbillyville Pennsylvania) I'm under firm belief that I need new ball joints as well.

Could someone enlighten me on that Whiteline RCA kit mentioned above? And will the tie rod ends work, too?

[SubaruNation]

ha ha ha
perfect

here

[Reiji Dorifuta]

That sounds very icky.

I think I'll stick to OEM...

[n2x4]

The whiteline parts are awesome. I'd go with them.

[SubaruNation]

That sounds very icky.

I think I'll stick to OEM...

wtf did you read the thread...

josh said stick with OEM....

[Legacy777]

That sounds very icky.

I think I'll stick to OEM...

wtf did you read the thread...

josh said stick with OEM....

Umm.....that's what he said he was going to use......OEM...

[SubaruNation]

ya, i know.

i interpreted it as him thinking that you were not using OEM, but rather something else.

there was my reasoning