Getting ready to do the ball joints on my girls car. I brought some tools from harbor freight. The 3-in-1 Ball Joint/U-Joint/C-Frame Press Service Kit from U.S. General and 5 Piece Front End Service Tool Set from U.S. General. I never did a ball joint. I'm a little apprehensive about the job. Anything I should know up front other than have a nice cold one while I'm doing them?

 

Make sure you have a BIG hammer haha. Usually ball joints are a pain to break free.

 

LOL! pearl01stratcpe I'll make sure I have one handy. One for the car and one for me!!! But in all seriousness this one is really bothering me. I've been looking for the cause of this really bad clunk/pop sound coming from the front passenger side for some time now. I've changed the inner and outer tie rods and looked at the ball joints. But I dont see any real play? It happens when I make a complete 90 degree turn only! And I can't seem to replicate it in my garage. It sounds so bad you would think I would easily be able diagnose this one. What a pain in the hole!!! Deepbass69 in another post mentioned the stabalizer bar but I just don't see how that could be the problem. Could the stabilizer bar be flexing? Other than changing the ball joints I just don't see what it could be.... LOL! Scratching my head on this one!!! You know any good ball joint tests I can make?

 

I have a similar issue when starting from a stop or shifting to second, when accelerating. I have a nice little 'pop' noise. Stabilizer/front sway bar is hooked to the strut with a long rod between the strut and sway bar. If you can feel the pop/knock, then that sway bar shouldnt be the issue, its something with more force. Ball joints arent technically a hard job, just can be a pain. Best thing to is get an air chisel and get a ball joint removal tip from autozone or advance. Itll buzz it right apart.

 

I thought that you had to replace the control arm with the ball joints in place for these? That would be easier to do and they are only about $50-$75 bucks

 

They can be pressed out. You most likely have to pull the control arm to get the ball joints positioned to press out, so that would be the easier solution.

 

I know this is late but in case anyone is looking it up, you can buy new a-arms for about the same price as ball joints with the new ones already installed.