this is the second time my ball joint came lose from the upper control arm. any idea why this is happening and any ideas on how to prevent it from happening again?

 

your nut isn't properly torqued. It may be spinning, etc and not allowing you to torque it to spec- should be 36-43 ft lbs or so. If the nut is tight, that won't happen

 

Cheap control arms maybe? Are they stock?

 

yea both times i replaced with stock.


i bolted the nut down pretty hard. but i dont think it has anything to do with it because ball joints are pressed into places. next time i might just weld the ball joint before i put it onto the car.

 

If they're stock bring them back to honda and bitch till they replace it

If that doesn't work welding would probably be your best bet (clean and paint over weld), although I'd still try to find out why its doing that. Bump for better answer

 

My guess is that the hole got warn out so you wont be able to seal a ball joint in there properly. Seen that happen to a hub for wheel studs. I had to weld a permenant wheel stud on.

 

since the suspension is supported from the bottom there is really only one way this could happen (other than what Luserkid said).. if your control arm is hitting something before the shock's bump stop stops the suspension travel the knuckle/wheel/tire/LCA/shock will transfer their momentum to the upper ball joint and cause this.
I see a lot of bump stop though

 

Snap Ring?

I didn't read what anyone else posted, not enough time.. but the snap ring is the only thing that keeps the ball joint from popping out on it's own


edit...

alright, yeah... did you forget to put the snap ring on or something? because there is honestly no way that **** happened if you put the snap ring on properly. snap rings are soooooo strong.

 

i know i know, your car is extremely lowered, causeing your control arm to hit the upper fender. as you can see the outer part of the arm is hitting the upper fender and then there is still force when the arm is stopped the balljoint is forced out. get what i'm saying?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by plugg’d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Snap Ring?

I didn't read what anyone else posted, not enough time.. but the snap ring is the only thing that keeps the ball joint from popping out on it's own


edit...

alright, yeah... did you forget to put the snap ring on or something? because there is honestly no way that **** happened if you put the snap ring on properly. snap rings are soooooo strong.</TD></TR></TABLE>
my thoughts exactly or what someone has already mentioned that the hole where the ball joint goes into has lots of play

 

yea, thats what i thought. but then if it hits my fender wouldn't it cause damage to it? i didn't press the ball joint in myself, i acutally replaced the entire control arm. i think i might just press the joint back in and get it welded.

 

civic and integras don't have snap rings. their pressed in. For less confusion lower balljoints have snap rings.


Modified by shyboi4u at 7:00 PM 10/26/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by z6 coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yea, thats what i thought. but then if it hits my fender wouldn't it cause damage to it? i didn't press the ball joint in myself, i acutally replaced the entire control arm. i think i might just press the joint back in and get it welded.</TD></TR></TABLE>

won't cause damage to the ball joint unless you keep on drivin it with the balljoint out of place. yeah that would work. just tack weld it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shyboi4u &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">civic and integras don't have snap rings. their pressed in.</TD></TR></TABLE> . ill pretend i didn't read that

if i am correct, all ball joints ever created in the world come with snap rings to secure them. so yeah... i would just hammer the ball joint back in, get a snap ring and put it back on. However, if you put on the snap ring and there is enough wear for the ball joint to come out even with the snap ring on, just get a new ctrl arm

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by plugg’d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if i am correct, all ball joints ever created in the world come with snap rings to secure them.</TD></TR></TABLE>
ones that are removable yes.
all though the front upper balljoint can only be purchased from honda with the UCA.
there was no snap ring groove on the one that I pulled out of my car.

besides
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by z6 coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i didn't press the ball joint in myself, i acutally replaced the entire control arm.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

oh ok. thats my bad then. i was just speaking on experience w/ lower ball joints.

=P but i found the upper ctrl arm for 34 on ebay, not that bad =P

 

I figured the snap ring would be a given...thats your problem if you don't remember installing it

 

his upper balljoint doesn't have snap rings. lower ball joints have snap rings.

 

Dont wanna rob the thread, but since its about a bolt coming lose and all...I had my crank pulley bolt come loose on me twice in month....Scary ****...
Some one did mention about the screw hole not being able to hold the bolt on when torqued
Just had a shop air gun the bitch in there hope it holds/last time...

 

uh....lol the upper control arm ball joint is pressed in. and since were on nuts and bolts, everyone should buy new crush washers everytime they changed their oil because mine is starting to leak.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luserkid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My guess is that the hole got warn out so you wont be able to seal a ball joint in there properly. Seen that happen to a hub for wheel studs. I had to weld a permenant wheel stud on. </TD></TR></TABLE>

A buddy of mine had to do something similar like this..