Ball Joints and other parts

Jim Muldoon

Registered User
My suspension seems fine but the ball joint cups are all shot. I need to replace the balljoints(at least the cups) and was wondering if anyone had a preferance of manufacturer or just use the local parts store?
Should I replace anything else while I'm there?

I also have a vibration at about 70+ that goes away when I coast with slight pedal but really gets noisy with a no-throttle coast down. I think it's an axle. There isn't any noise at lower speeds and no slop when going from reverse to drive. I've balanced the tires already. Any ideas? Where is a good place for an axle?

jim
 
For that vibration, double-check the bolts holding the driveshaft to the pinion flange. Take a hard look at your u-joints while you're under there. Pay close attention to the front u-joint, it can crater your tailshaft housing (yes, I do know this from experience).

About balljoints...the lower balljoint can be had at O'Reillys for $42-43 or you can buy the whole control arm complete with new bushings & joint for 59.95, the upper arm is the same price. Be sure to also check the rear bushings on your strut rods, that's a likely place for a small rattle.

'bird
 
My 1990 auto SC has had a bit of a vibration, so I took it to my hobby shop and put it on a lift a couple weeks ago.

I inspected the suspension and the only movement I found in the front wheels is the top to bottom movement I could see in the upper ball joint. And also noted driver side motor mount movement.

I changed my upper balljoints and just put in new motor mounts over the past week I had the motor mounts from advance auto, paid about 50 a peice if I recall corectly, and they were suppose to be solid.....I hope they are because that job was a bitch. I took the opportunity to remove the exhaust manifolds and port the collector, which I beleive also helped with the removal of the mounts, as there was more space to move around in there. Also changed the plugs (APP 2544 I beleive it was) and the car seems to be a little tighter in the steering deartment and seems to have improved power as well...

BUT, I still have the "pop" when turning hard left, and if I coast at really low speeds (like 5 mph or so) it almost seems to have a "limp" that seems to be comming form the front passenger side of the car.

Also, the vibration I was having seems to have decreased, but I still get the vibration around 70+ just like the gentleman stated above.

If there is a problem in my lower balljoints, wouldn't this be noticable when I tried "wobbling" the tires by hand in my inspection after replacing the upper balljoints? I noticed no more movement after replacing the uppers, and it seemed rock solid....

Something I didn't mention yet is that I have already replaced some other bushings, but I cannot remember which ones, as it was over a year ago; I do remmeber that it was a bushing that kept me from getting an alignment (they told me this when I went to get a tire replaced, but they couldn't align it becasue of these bushings) It was a set of bushing that I assume further misaligned the car when replaced. I beleive it was the ones that

Could alignment cause these symptoms... It doesn't violently pull in either direction, and I tried to leave everything as close as it was when replacing the bushings...

I haven't driven the car much and the tires still look brand new, without noticable wear. It has been sittig in my driveway, unregistered or insured for quite sometime now, only cranking and occasionally driving it down my street to keep things in check.

I plan on going to the firestone, maybe this afternoon and see about their lifetime alignment, I know firestone isn't always the favorite, but its like 100 for the lifetime alignment, I figure it could be worth it...

On the driveline, would I be able to see or feel movement in bad u-joiunts??? I did notice that the transmission crossmember seems to be a little twisted, and I couldn't tell if it was suppose to be like this or not... the mount looks OK, but the passenger side where it bolts to the undercarriage seems like it has twisted just a hair... I tried to tighten the bolt to make sure, but it seemed tight as heck so I left it alone....should I worry about that? it isn't loose at all..should I try to get a crossmember from the junk yard just in case?

Thanks for reading all this guys,
Sizemoremk
 
Last edited:
About 6 months ago I started to hear rattling in What I believed to be the front suspension of my 92 sc I let it go for a bit until it got worse. I took it to a shop to get alingned which they wouldnt do because they found that the upper balljoints needed replacing. I got the parts (TRW) for I believe 71.00 apeice at Advance Auto (the whole upper control arm has to be replaced to fix the balljoint) put them on (not too hard but not fun at all esspecially pass.) and the noise calmed dow a little. I laid down under the front end and bounced the car just a little to look for any movement and sure enough the Stabilizer bar links were moving way too much ( TRW about 30.00 each and tricky but not too hard to do) got an alignment and the noise stopped. Just a few ideas on part of your problem hope they help.
 
Last edited:
my joints and bushing were fine but I had a clunk from the front end in reverse going over rutted roads. Turns out the steering shaft has some play in it between the rag joint and the u-joint under the dash. Since I'm too lazy to find out where its from its still doing it:cool:
 
that pop you describe while turning could be something as simple as a loose front subframe, mine did this and the symptoms you describe as "popping under 5mph" are very similar to what mine was doing.
 
Back
Top