I had purchased the front upper control arms with ball joints for my 96 Accord in March from a store called Autopart International. After only 2 days of being installed the right side control arm started squeaking. So I went back and they gave me new ones. Again, after like day they started squeaking again. I called the store and the guy asked me if I had tried greasing the ball joints, and I told him no and that I didn't see why new ball joints need to be greased. The ball joints that I bought aren't the ones that have the greasing nipple, so I didn't think these were greasable. Although the guy did say they have warranty and can be replaced, can they be greased? And if they can, where do I grease them? Sorry if my question is noobish, but I really don't know much about cars and would like to do things myself. Thanks!

 

sounds like it might be the upper control arm bushings, not the ball joint

 

Doesn't that already come on the control arm?

 

If you bounce on the front of the car, is there any noise? Or when you turn left to right, is there noise?

 

There's noise when you bounce it and while driving, especially when moving from a standstill.

 

Yeah sounds like metal tube rubbing on bushing. Probably not greased or not enough grease. It is part of the anchor.

Probably wanna try a different brand.

 

Yeah that's what I was gonna do. I read on another thread that if the bolts that go through the bushings aren't torqued correctly they can cause squeaking. When I installed them, I just tightened them down as much as I could. I'm gonna try using a torque wrench this time. The thread that I read was for an Integra, and the torque specs for those bolts were 20 ft-lbs. Would they be any different for an Accord? And if that doesn't work, anyone know where they sell quality control arms that don't cost an arm and leg like OEM? I'm aware that OEM is the only sure way, but I'm also sure that there are other quality alternatives.

 

The noises are most likely from over tightening on those bushing bolts. I had the same problem as well, until I loosen them a bit, the noises went away.

 

I have to agree... Might be too tight.

 

Had similar issue , got better quality parts.