2kCivicGuy

I was coming home the other day when my (93 si) front right tire started making a thudding sound around corners and when i brake.. So we took the tire off and all we could figure is that the ball joint is loose?

This thing here will move up and down with some pressure, and my dad figures it's this also and he's a bit of a mechanic (tuners are new to him though)

It's just in the Hayne's manual it says you need to remove/replace the whole control arm(?) in order to replace the ball joint, whereas the parts store says all we need is the clamp thing to replace it with.. and the part naturally..

He thinks it couldve been a bushing too but is more fixated on this..

Can anyone help me out with this, or maybe know what might ACTUALLY be wrong?

B serious

iTrader: (1)

There's no replacement balljoint. The control arm and balljoint are sold as one assembly. What exactly is moving up and down? the arm? because that's supposed to pivot up and down as the suspension moves. Is it moving at the balljoint or pivoting where the bushings are?

2kCivicGuy

Well right where the wishbone thingy meets the control arm (sorry I'm newer and my dad isnt up) moves up and down slightly.. maybe its supposed to.. but nothing looks broken or bent that he could seebut he definately heard it. kind of like thud.. thud thud , increasing in tempo as you turn harder. but only the front right..

JarvisW

Damn, Thought I had it, but I dont lol

Sry


EDIT: Wait, you said its the wishbone thing (UCA) meets the UCA... um....

Do you mean the where the 2 bolts #13s are?

Jhonny Ricer

The ball joint is pressed in so no you shouldnt be able to move it up and down. You are saying that the rubber boot area there is movin up and down on its own and not with your entire upper wishbone correct? Check your axles for torn boots while your down there. Also put the wheel back on and give it the shock test start rocking that corner up and down if it bounces for a while it could just be you need a new shock and that one is bottoming out around turns and when braking. If when you bounce the car and it stops almost imiediatly than id say its something to do with the ball joint.

2kCivicGuy

well where 10 and 9 are it will go up and down WITH pressure.. so i dunno if thats it. I havent been driving it since i heard the noise, and if you lemme know what to look at I'll check it all tomorrow morning. We were planning on trying something tomoorrow. We just dunno what.. And as far as i know it didnt rock or bounce any more than normal, and its usually pretty stiff.


Modified by 2kCivicGuy at 2:12 AM 6/9/2007

Jhonny Ricer

For some reason I dont think its your ball joint but i could be wrong I'm set on a bad shock perhaps but dont quote me.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

#9 and 10 is where the Upper control arm meets the spindle. The upper control arm is the "wishbone thingy".

Your balljoint is most likely done if its moving up and down in that location..as #9 is your balljoint boot and #10 is the ring. See how there's no actual part number for the balljoint itself? The upper arm and balljoint are sold as one. Get it from a honda whole saler like hondaautomovieparts.com or something like that. Google "OEM honda parts" or "OEM honda part numbers" and find a whole sale honda dealer. Or go to a junkyard and get one for $10-20

2kCivicGuy

Well our parts store sold us a "ball joint" and press, the joint was 30 and the press was a 100 deposit. I have yet to see it though as it will be in saturday(now today).

My dad says somehting along the lines of all you need to do is reapply the boot thingy with the wishbone and press it down, but the book says what you said so he'll just have to work with everything i tell him from here when we go to, look at/work, on the car.

Though i might need the control arm anyway (im sure its included in the part) because i kind of spun into a curb last summer (lady in van decides to stop at light at last second in the rain, so to avoid her i went curb-hopping, knowing i don't have ABS ) , and though it doesnt pull very much normally, it does when i hit bumps and stuff so i figure thats bad too...
we replaced the rear control arm last fall (oddly with a funky del sol part ) but never did anything to the front.. (money..)