I have a 99 accord.

I noticed a disturbing clunk when turning at highway speed and also going over bumps.

The top ball joint had too much play - It could pull the top of the front passenger side tire out 1/4" on the affected side, but could not do so on the drivers side. This reproduced the clunking.

After reading some prior posts on this forum, I replaced the control arm which includes the ball joint.

It is now approx 1 month later and the problem has re-occurred - in the replaced part.

questions:

Is there something ELSE that could be causing these ball joints to fail?

Is it possible that I just got a bad replacement part? I got the part from AutoZone as suggested here, so I believe it will be covered by warranty. But I want to make sure there is not something else I am overlooking.

Thanks in advance

 

double-check that you have the joint fully tightened and that it's not just the stud moving in the spindle. if the conical bore in the spindle is worn out, you would need a new spindle (used).

 

I do not believe that the bolt/spindle are the problem.

the play is at the top ie the ball joint itself, not where its connected to the control arm.

I am concerned that there is something that might lead to this failure?

otherwise, I had bad luck with a bad replacement part.

 

disconnect the ball joint and verify that it's loose. get a new part under warranty. i can't think of anything that would be causing a failure that quickly. if you had a wheel/tire problem that is causing a bad enough vibration to wear it out, you'd be feeling it.