I went to get my wheels done, guy noticed my ball joints are shot or going soon... he said it was typical in my car, never really heard that before but i never really got around to wiggling my wheel in the air before. sooo.. question would be, would it be cheaper to buy a new lower control arm with ball joint or maybe having to need to get my control arm re-pressed to fit again and get a new ball joint.. i don't know the true operation but from what i've researched, its that but i don't know prices. i just want others experiences on this..

 

Been a long time since I did ball joints on a 3rd gen, but I don't remember them being pressed into the control arm. Standard GM riveted-in deal, as I recall. Drill out the old rivets, replace with supplied grade 8 bolts that come with the new ball joints.

Unless you plan on replacing with aftermarket tubular control arms or something.

 

ok thanks.

 

the ball joint just presses in. i think autozone rents the tool. 140% sure they press in.

 

I have an 86 IROC. I rented the ball joint press from Autozone. Cost 100$ BUT you get it right back when you bring the tool back. So its basically free. I changed mine in no time. NEVER done it before. Mine pressed in easy and pressed out easy. If ur gonna do it. Then do it with GOOD parts. Dont get the cheap ball joints. I put MOOG parts all the way around my front suspension. May not be theeeeee best out there but its better than the el cheapo valuecraft parts u can buy.make sure u get an alignment done after the fact. Good Luck

 

I'll keep that in mind, thanks!

 

Yep - as ,entioned AZ rents the press - it's a driveway job takes maybe 2 hours.

The higher priced ball joints avail at NAPA are good ones - nice and beefy.

The job is frustrating to say the least - be prepared to get mad, walk away, breath deep, and come back. The AZ press doesn't always fit in there just right, making the ball joint want to come out at an angle, and it binds. You just have to keep loosening the press, repositioning it, and retightening until you get the old one out. Same with the reinstall on the new one - it wants to get angled and binds, and so you have to reposition the press and try again. I ended up having to kinda wiggle a tad on one side, then on the opposite side, readjusting the press everytime - I even remember changing the position and order of some of the dies in the press, putting them in a different way than intended, just to get the right angle to press in/out the side of the ball joint that was binding up.

Made me mad as hell at the time, but for a "free" rental, it's hard to complain (much) at the press. As with everything, patience and determination are the keys!

Good Luck!

 

thats not bad, an thanks. i'll keep in mind the AZ rental. Is Moog the best brand for these, or is there anything better? I don't care on price, i just want the best for my car, thats what i care about most.

 

I just did mine 2 weeks ago - it was cake with the right tool - advanced also rents... Moog is very good - check out rockauto.com - got the best and saved some $$ as well. They shipped from NY so I had them in 2 days and even with shipping it was still cheaper than buying local.

I want the best but I'm also looking for the best price as well.

 

i have to say i love autozone. the warranty is awesome. and they pay you to shop there. spend $20 5 times they give you $20 credit. who else replaces worn out brake pads for free?