94 Del Sol DOHC VTEC

I'm trying to change the lower ball joint. The new one I have has the c-clip however I don't see any sort of clip on the one that is on my car. I'm assuming its factory then right? Does this mean that I have to take it somewhere to have them remove it?

 

Should have a c-clip. You can use a mallet and try to hit it in.

 

seperate the lower , use ring pliers to expand the big C clip holding the balljoint in the spindle. once thats off , you can beat the old balljoint out with a hammer , clean the hole out , tap the new one into the hole , put the C clip back on(new one comes with it) , and fire it back together. that easy.

 

i just did mine on my EK and they had to be pressed out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GreyDel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i just did mine on my EK and they had to be pressed out</TD></TR></TABLE>

word..

 

c-clip??? i thought they had cotter pins?? i just use a big pole and a chain, pry down on the control arm while banging on the spindle with a hammer

 

I'm 99% positive that there is no c-clip on mine. I guess I'll have to take it somewhere.

 

i never had any c-clips on my factory ball joints
If you dont see one, and youve looked hard, AND you have the knuckle removed......just whack the joint's stud with a hammer to pop it out and press a new one in (and use the clip on the new one, if it comes with one)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cranny &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">seperate the lower , use ring pliers to expand the big C clip holding the balljoint in the spindle. once thats off , you can beat the old balljoint out with a hammer , clean the hole out , tap the new one into the hole , put the C clip back on(new one comes with it) , and fire it back together. that easy.</TD></TR></TABLE>


If there is no ring then skip step 2 and grab a hammer. I use a air hammer w/ punch end and they puch right out. using a hammer to install the new one may not be the preferred way. they make a large c-clamp style tool that presses it in for you. Check your local parts store to see if you can rent one.
looks like


http://www.otctools.com/produc...=1815

 

Forget about that press. The balljoint is located too close to the wheel bearing to get any of those adapters to work. I know because I tried it myself. Just remove the steering knuckle and take it to Honda. They did mine for about $45.00 (press out the old and press in the new). It's chump change for piece of mind. Most other shops charge 1 hour of labor.

 

ive done many , dozens in fact , on many different cars. and civics , tegs , and sols , have a C clip(actually called a circlip) holding em in. no need for a press. but , whatever tickles your fancy dude. they come right out im telling you , have a better look.

 

Sorry, my experience was with the '95 Odyssey which is like the 5th Gen accord. They don't have circlips and have to pressed in/out. So if the circlip is all that holds it in, heck, like you said, it should come right out of the knuckle with hardly any force.

 

few hammer taps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cranny &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">few hammer taps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msgboardking &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">94 Del Sol DOHC VTEC

I'm trying to change the lower ball joint. The new one I have has the c-clip however I don't see any sort of clip on the one that is on my car. I'm assuming its factory then right? Does this mean that I have to take it somewhere to have them remove it? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Some lower ball joints come with the circlip. My hatch had the circlip, while the aftermarket ball joints did not. Read my write up on how to do it. Very easy.

Wheel bearing and ball joint removal

If you have any questions, just PM me.

Mario-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cranny &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ive done many , dozens in fact , on many different cars. and civics , tegs , and sols , have a C clip(actually called a circlip) holding em in. no need for a press. but , whatever tickles your fancy dude. they come right out im telling you , have a better look.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've worked on my 94 civic with oem balljoints; they didn't have a circlip but the replacements did, i've worked on my mom's 97 accord, the oem ones didn't have a circlip but the replacements did. In any case, I find it easiest to hammer them out (remove the boot so you can hammer evenly around the metal, striking the threads just seems to mushroom the threads and not much force applied to getting it out), and then use that c-press thing to press them back in (you have to get creative here to use the c-press to press them in; unfortunately as mentioned before you can't really use it to press them out). Make sure the knuckle/seat is clean and that you use no grease to press them back in; its a press-fit so you dont want grease.

 

Thanks for all the responses guy. I was short on time so I just took the part up to Firestone and the guy was able to pound it out. No way in hell could I have done it with the tools I have. Guy did it free of charge but I slipped him a $20. Well worth it for 10 mins.

Hopefully, I won't have to mess with this stuff anymore.

 

on another note, i really like the MOOG replacement LBJ; they have a blue boot which i think is more heat resistant than the OEM honda ones or equivalent OE aftermarkets. But the moog's are generally the more expensive of aftermarket lbj.

 

i never said accords , dont work on many really. but the way a civic teg spindle is designed , the force of the bumps(pushing up) is that which would pop the balljoint out of the spindle without a circlip. so if it didnt have a circlip , than nothing was holding it in but rust , see what im saying. that or they were long ago rotten away.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cranny &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i never said accords , dont work on many really. but the way a civic teg spindle is designed , the force of the bumps(pushing up) is that which would pop the balljoint out of the spindle without a circlip. so if it didnt have a circlip , than nothing was holding it in but rust , see what im saying. that or they were long ago rotten away.</TD></TR></TABLE>

so my 94 civic came defective straight from honda? I'm not doubting your findings on what you've worked on, I'm just reporting what I've worked on.

 

im not saying the car was defective dude , lol , the factory parts are supposed to have clips , maybe yours just rusted off like i said , not impossible. or broke off , somin. just missing. thats dangerous , lol.

 

i have the same exact car, and i did replace my ball joint. There was no C-Clip, most likely it fell off. I used at 8ft pole and a sledge to get the ball joint out, after taking off my knuckle.

Hammered the new one in and saved myself 90 bucks a local shop wanted to press it out.

DIY FTW!!