Brother in law dropped his Accord off at 60k miles for an inspection. Since they told him his timing belt was due, I had to take anything else they had to say with a grain of salt. They also told him his ball joints are shot in the front. I don't know if they meant upper or lower, they just said "shoulder."

Aside from checking the boots and shaking the wheel from 12 and 6 positions, is there any measurement that can be made to support their claims? Or will it end up being my word "No, they feel fine and the boots are intact" against theirs "No, we need to replace these or you can't pass inspection."??

I've scoured several Helms manuals and can't find anything...

Thanks in advance!


Modified by Mike_C at 2:10 PM 7/25/2008

 

Because of the type of suspension, (Hybrid Multi-Link) Checking for a bad upper can be achieved by doing the 12 and 6 wobble of the wheel, normally it will show some movement if its bad. The lower joint is the load bearing joint, and requires the vehicle be lifted for proper inspection. Inserting a prybar between the knuckle and lower control arm is a makeshift way to check for slack. I don't believe any slack is permitted on the load bearing joint on any Honda. Many manufacturers specify a maximum value for the loaded joint at least.

SLA (GM/Ford SUV's in particular) type suspensions require that the wheel in question be jacked up by the lower (or upper if it is sprung from the upper arm) control arm to unload the joint and get an accurate assessment.

This goes for most manufacturers, if its a sealed, ungreasable ball joint (no Zerk fitting) generally no play is acceptable, replace or check specification if loose. Same goes for tie rods, inner and outer, on ANY vehicle regardless if it has a Zerk on it or not.

Most domestics and a few imports use Zerk style ball joints that can sometimes have a wear gauge built in to the Zerk fitting. Once the 6 point fastening part of the Zerk bottoms out on the top of the ball joint, replacement is required. Usually seen on older Ford's, Chrysler's up to 2006 or so.

I generally advise replacement of domestic ball joints with .028" slack or more, or if the slack will affect wheel alignment/tire wear.