eurochoi

Hello everyone.....I have a quick question that pertains to my ball joints on my 96 EX.

I just recently purchased the car and noticed it has uneven wear on the right front tire. I immediately suspected a ball joint issue and jacked up each side to see if I could manipulate the suspension by hand and also by a pry bar to see if there was any play in the upper/lower ball joints, the tie rods and the wheel bearings.

Both sides came up tight with no movement what-so-ever. I did notice, however, that the lower ball joint boots are torn. Now I know that the boots can be bought and installed but not have caused any harm to the actual ball joint being exposed as it was?

I have to go ahead and replace both CV shafts next week when they arrive either way....but it looks like the lower and upper ball joints are a pain to replace in themselves.

Have any of you only had to replace the boots on these ball joints? I'm just hoping that I'm getting lucky on this one.....

98civdx

if dirts gets into the joints, they can/will fail. Personaly, if the boots are torn I would replace them. there's no telling how long they've been like that.

IF money allows, brand new OEM upper control arms are $92 each. That's new ball joints, and bushings.

new lower ball joints are $40 each...
http://www.hondapartsunlimited.com/f.../KA5MT/KNUCKLE


I highly highly reccomend going OEM for these parts!!

eurochoi

Thanks for the quick reply. Dirt was what was in the back of my mind and yes I don't know how long it's been like that. I do wish they came with the ability to grease them though, that way at least you could push the old grease and dirt out of the joint.

I'll wait until next week to see if I can come up with the funds. I'm going into my senior year of college and the last thing I want to have to worry about is the front end falling out from under neath me and having to repair something mid semester.

I'll have to say, it's been a while since I've had a civic....(13 years ago, in high school to be exact (CRX Si)) I forgot how low these things are to the ground when you're driving.....

98civdx

To answer your other question, I have rebooted them. but it's not something i would do again.Nothing ever fits like the factory stuff.


if it came down to it, I would just call my dad and ask him if I could borrow some money to fix it. lol

He had a lower ball joint break out of no where. That wasn't a good day, and it did about $600 in damage.

eurochoi

lol, the dad thing isn't so much of an option as I'm just going into my 30's now. A part time job and the GI bill only leaves so much money at the end of the month after bills and gas (part of the reason why I got the civic). Either way, thank you for the advise and responses. It looks as if the upper isn't so bad to change when compared to the lower, but the upper's boot seems fine. It's just getting the press to press the lower out and then putting it back in on top of the extra expense.

I suppose I'll have to wait til next week to see if I can afford anything more than a boot on top of all of the other parts I've bought.

98civdx

Oh, haha. Yeah, that might be a little weird.


You actually don't need a press, can be done with simple head tools, and a large C clamp. IIRC, you can rent the tools to change it yourself from a auto parts store.

He's a DIY to do it.
http://www.ek9.org/forum/resource-ar...ll-joints.html

Hidenplanvew

I just use a 4lbs drilling hammer and a impact socket just big enuff to fit over the threads and sit on the housing it self. Never has stopped me in 12 years and makes it pretty quick job.. You can do the same for install you just have to be careful

eurochoi

Alright, I sucked it up and bought a set of Moog lower ball joints and stuck it on my Amazon card......I just can't see tearing this thing down and finding out that I have to do it all over again if they end up with some play later.

If the uppers go bad then that doesn't seem so bad to replace compared to the lowers. Two new 195-55-15's and an alignment after this and then I'll be looking for a black left fender and bumper at the U pull it place and an OEM radio so I can program the keyless entry.....and some aftermarket speakers and I'll be good to go.

Thanks for the persuasion/information again.

98civdx

Moog is great.. my dad replaced the front suspension in his car with that. 7 years and counting.

Honestly, if the uppers go, just toss new control arms in... you can replace the upper ball joints, though.

eurochoi

Got the Passenger side finished, Lower ball joint and CV joint installed. The driver's side is being a bit of a bitch though. The lower ball joint's castle nut wouldn't come off, the entire stud turned with the nut so I figured I'd try to get the shop to do that one later when I bring it in for an alignment. The CV shaft on the driver's side will not seat fully either, there is about a finger's width of an area between the cv joint and the shaft housing creating a bit of a fluid leak when turning right....

What would be an acceptable way to get it seated completely, I'm hesitant to take the nut off the end of the shaft and hammer it....as that may mushroom the end of the shaft.

BTW, the new ball joints have snap rings and the OEM ones didn't....I'm guessing that's a safety feature on the MOOG parts or something?

Fun times.

94EG8

Pull the axle again and compare it to the old one, make sure the inner joint is the same and not longer than the old one. If it's the same start the inner joint into the splined hole and then grab the outer joint and give it a sharp snap in, repeat until the inner joint clicks into place.

Most aftermarket ball joints have the snap ring. Honestly I'm partial to the OEM balljoints with no snap rings as the snap rings tend to rust and get seized in the groove making them a pain in the *** to remove later.

94EG8

You can buy the boots from Honda.

I have done it once before. I ripped a boot on an almost new OEM Honda balljoint separating it from the LCA, which sells for $100 here in Canada, so I bought a new boot ($16 Canadian)

98civdx

oh, I didn't know that. That is definetly good to know.

eurochoi

Thanks, I'll pull it again on Sunday. It's funny I had it in, but I suppose it wasn't seated fully. I've been searching a bit for the past hour, the one thing I keep seeing is to make sure that the retaining ring is oriented a certain way before pushing into the transmission.

Here's how far it is out, it was farther before I messed with it a bit..

fragmare

If you're *SURE* the ball joint is in good shape, you can just replace the boot. Ideally, you'd want to get the original OEM ones from Honda. That being said, you can get away with using those little Dorman dust boots they sell at autoparts stores. You just have to make sure the hole matches the ball joint's spindle size. I'm using a couple of Dorman boots on my 93 Civic right now (one on the tie-rod end ball joint and the other on the lower ball joint) with no ill effects. Either way, make sure you inspect the ball joint, clean if off, and repack the boot with plenty of grease.

eurochoi

Apparently the issue was a defective axle. I returned it to the store and got a replacement and it went into the trans with no problem at all.

sde780

Sometimes you have to take the c-clip off the end, squeeze it smaller with pliers, then re-install, in regards to the axle not going in.

For a free spinning tie rod/balljoint nut, apply pressure (oem jack works great) down and it should help hold the joint enough to keep it from spinning with the nut.

eurochoi

Changed (honda "flushed") the transmission fluid, 9 quarts of DW-1 later it is shifting like butta'. The magnetic end of the plug was gunked up. I'd have to believe that the car never had the fluid changed, in turn that could be a good thing in that it possibly never had the wrong fluid in it and a bad thing in that it's never been changed....

eurochoi

I believe that I'm going to let the shop take care of that side's ball joint when I bring it in for tires and an alignment. They're pretty reasonable with their pricing on labor.

I have to buy a set for both of my cars, maybe I can negotiate a better price on the tires or maybe the labor....we'll see.