I'm after some quality ball joints and tie rod ends to replace my worn ones in my DA. The roads around where I live (Australia) aren't the best but they are ok, and I do a little bit of track work.

Should I go with OEM items or are there a cheaper alternative which can take a decent ammount of punishment? Where is a good place to buy them that would ship over here? (Everything local is a huge rip-off).

Also, does the upper ball joint wear easily should I replace it too?

Thanks.

 

I think you'd be lucky to find better than the OEM joints. The ball joints on my 91 CB7 are an unknown age (may even be the original fitment since no ball joint replacement is recorded in the car's very good service records).

In my ownership they've lasted nearly three years driving on what I'm sure are much rougher roads than you're likely to have around Newcastle, and they have no play in them.

Despite being relatively small in size, the upper ball joints should last a very long time, the loadings on them are far far less than the loadings on the lower ball joints, a product of the substantial distance they are from the hub centre. I wouldn't replace any ball joints just on spec, unless it were on a serious racing or rally car for which I had a rather substantial budget.

 

I'm not asking for a better ball-joint than OEM. I'm asking about the quality of other brands. I will be giving them more punishment in all directions and would not like a bad joint to break at 90kph around a corner. Now OEM joints are around 3 or 4 times as expensive as aftermarket items, i'm asking if I should be getting them for track work or are there good alternatives for cheaper.

How old is your chassis? Mine has done nearly 300,000km and definitely had no ball joint changes (previous owned who owned it for nearly it's whole life barely took care of it) - there is a little play. My left upright has been in a chassis which hit a gutter very very hard. Wheel bearing is fine.

I have a small budget but any tightening of steering feel will help my driving immensely.