ddtx93

hey i have an 97 accord se and my upper control arms are shot and my stock struts are blown. might as well get new lowering struts. im planning to get bc racing coilovers, but the problem is that i dont know what to go for for the upper control arms. i need control arms that are compatible with lowering struts, any ideas? i also found out that i could just replace my ball joint and it will be fine, but i still need uca that are compatable with lowering struts. i have a tight budget. what should i go for? something dependable and good pricing

95accordCE6

From my experience it is best to replace the whole UCA rather than just the balljoint, as the UCA is stamped steel and it often becomes distorted when pressing out/in balljoints and even if they appear fine after the initial repair they'll just cause problems down the road. The typical result is the balljoint being held in place solely by the snap ring, which also then bends and will eventually come out of the groove allowing the ballpoint to come out. I don't know how much you're planning to lower, but at the ride height I have mine at I ruined two ball joints because the zerk fittings hit the body going over bumps. So to sum this up replace the whole control arm and make sure you get them without grease fittings on the balljoint. Just make sure they are greased well and occasionally unbolt the balljoint from the knuckle, slide the boot down and repackage with grease. It's a bit of a hassle, but that's the price you pay to have a modified car in my opinion. Hope this helps.

ddtx93

So you recommend to get a full uca with the ballpoint in there? well i am planning to lower it but maybe in the future. i just was wondering what brand of uca is good for lowering compatability? as for lowering, i am thinking about the 'type one' brand or the 'truhart' but again im not sure how the quaility of that's going to be. im still fishing for advice on those.