OK, so my daily (94 hatch) needs some TLC. It's been lowered on some Eibach sport springs on stock everything else. The ball joints are BLOWN OUT. I've had some camber and serious toe issues since I bought the car. Ive been fighting doing a suspension tune up and have just been buying used tires which usually last me about 2-4 months. and in the last week my front right has been giving me a wobble in low speeds, I don't think I helped it when I had to pry out the lower ball joint to replace my half shaft.

Since this is my daily and I don't want to throw a crap ton of money at it I was looking at options on eBay and was wanting some advice on a few things I picked out.

First is a whole front end kit for $195. With this kit I can replace everything and call it good.


Or I can go the cheaper route and get the tie rod ends and ball joints for $37.


Either way, I need to get this done and get a good alignment to fix my toe issue cause I would like to get a full set of matching tires and have them wear evenly.

Questions, comments concerns. I'll take all of them.. :thumb:

 

I got new tie rod ends and ball joints at Advance Auto for around $30-40. They work fine and were cheap, the one downfall is the feel of the steering. It isn't nearly as nice as it was, it feels like it floats or something now, if I take a turn fast.

 

I just priced out the inner/outer tie rod ends and lower ball joints through O'reilly, Pep Boys, and Vatozone and none could come close to the price of the eBay kit. As for the upper ball joint, it looks like I'm better off buying the whole control arm kit on ebay vs just the ball joint at any of the 3 auto part stores locally.

At this point I don't really care too much about the tight feel of the car like it once had. It just needs to get me to work and back without any issues. It just has to survive me until I finish school and find a better job so I can buy a better car to drive to work and have this one as my play thing.

 

looks like something my buddy got. you know what happened? the cotter pin broke when he hit a bump. then the crown obviously fell off. and right as he turned at a light...BOOM! tie rod bent. axle bent. wheel, brake assem., strut all that was under the car. bumper, rad support all dmged. and he wanted to call a tow truck...

 

As long as it lasts me a few more years at most. and it looks like I gotta grab some quality cotter pins. Thanks for the heads up and advice.