how hard is it to change lower ball joints on a 91 crx si?do they have to be pressed?has anyone did a write-up on this?

 

a press makes it easier but can be done with handtools.

 

its probably more work than its worth trying to do it yourself. i paid 35 bones to have mine pressed in. i imagine you shouldnt have to may much more for it if you chose to have a shop do it.

 

just went through this.

you need to first take off the knuckle completely. undo the axle nut. take off the caliper. pop off all three balljoints. it also helps to take off the rotor.

you can hammer the old balljoint out. that should be easy. first remember to take out the circlip tho. you shouldnt need it if you use a new honda OEM balljoint, the new design doesnt require it anymore.

putting the balljoint back in is the hard part. you can TRY to manually hammer the balljoint back in. however, i found it kind of difficult to get enough clean strikes to push it straight in. i recommend using a press of some sort, the balljoint press you rent from autozone will do. that makes things easy.

HOWEVER! **********CAUTION******* i just found that when i used the balljoint press (basically a glorified c clamp) kit from autozone, i used the supplied sleeve in the kit. things were going great, until the very last quarter inch, it started to give a bit more resistance again. i ended up bottoming out the tip of the balljoint and CRUSHING the threads of the balljoint around the cotter pin holes. the height of the sleeve in the kit is JUST a bit short to fully contain the balljoint. because the threads were crushed, i had to file them all off at the tip to get the nut on to save the NEW balljoint. hopefully you know what im talking about, and youll add an extra spacer before you bottom out the balljoint.

 

I used a hammer. after removing the spindle it took maybe 10 minutes. remove the dust shield for the axle first, but dont forget to replace it.

may want to have a new upper around as well, i fubar'd mine during removal.

-Dustin

 

ight guys thanks for the info.i got ones from ebay i got both sodes has anyone used these and are they any good?the dust cover i think im goona leave that off cuase it rattles a lil bit.

 

just so you know, you wont be able to take the dust cover off unless you press out the hub. you could cut it away but the screws are inaccessible under the hub.

 

nope i got a long skinyy *** screw driver fit though them small *** holes.

 

dust shield for AXLE not brake.

it simply prys out, no screws.

you must remove it during a b-series swap to use teg axles, but i would recomend keeping it if you aren't doing that.

 

my bad sorry,

ok one more question if i want to change to upper ball joints too do i also have to change the upper control arm?is that one peice?cause i got the same thing they use at honda delaer to find parts and it shows the lower one bout it just shows the whole upper control arm.cann someone clear this up for me.i know this is porb. stupid question.

 

yes they come as a whole piece

 

alright thanks man.

 

90-91 have a replaceable upper ball joint, but you have to go aftermarket.

88-89 are welded in and are not replaceable.

 

know of any good places to get a set of control arms?

 

honda.

http://www.slhondaparts.com/br...=true

 

Snap ring pliars, a hammer, and pickle fork is pretty much all you need for DIY.

 

damn, snap ring pliers! forget about that. good call. bad call on the pickle fork tho...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vteckillenzc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">know of any good places to get a set of control arms?</TD></TR></TABLE>

junkyard

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn, snap ring pliers! forget about that. good call. bad call on the pickle fork tho...</TD></TR></TABLE>\

If you're replacing a busted joint then the boot is most likely already split so there's no problem with the pickle fork. Although, you can rent a ball joint seperator from autozone, but i've never used it so I have no in put there.