Hi,

Lesson learn, I changed my lower ball joint 1 month ago with a jobber , the cheapest one at NAPA, at 25$. But now, one of them had its rubber falling apart ! dunno why, maybe I hit a pothole , i dont remember , maybe just because the part is just too cheap !!!!

Anyway, I had a few question before I go changing it !

1 - Since I change it only a month ago, can I keep it for a while even if the half of the rubber felt apart ?? How safe is it ? How long can I keep it like that ?
At which moment I known to change it ? I just dont want to pay again to change something I change recently if I can keep it for some time.

2- What is the purpose of that rubber ??

3- I just check the price and something i dont understand on the price . Why the OEM lower ball joint are cheaper that the others ones like the sankei 555 and Moog :


OEM at 16$
http://www.hondapartscheap.com/oem-p.../51220-s84-a02


Sankei at 35$
http://www.autopartsway.ca/PartDetai.../pagenum1/tabS


Moog ar 28$
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/199...all_joint.html


How to explain that price difference for OEM and others ?
Should I stick for the OEM at 16$ or the MOOG at 28$ ?


thanks for help

 

You can get a ball joint boot replacement. Since it is not that old, I would take that route.

Rubber keeps the grease in the ball joint and the dirt and grime out. The dirt/grime will act like sand paper on the joint and cause it to wear prematurely.

Moog makes quality suspension parts (buy their good line of parts, not the cheaper line they offer). I just dropped $350 on Moog replacement parts for my accord.

 

OEM, and if that is not available, Moog.

 

Do you think the cheap ball joint I bought at 25$ will hold ??
Or I just change for the OEM which is now at only 16$$$ ??


OEM at 16$
http://www.hondapartscheap.com/oem-p.../51220-s84-a02

It is hard to believe that the OEM is only at 16$ when the dealer is selling it at 50$ in Canada ?? Are they fake OEM part to be at that price ?


Changing the boot is cheaper but since the OEM ball joint is only 16$ each, I may change for the OEM and hopefully no more problem if they are real OEM in
original packaging !

 

Can't even view your links.

Can you take a clear picture of the suspect ball joint ? I actually had this issue with one called Parts Rite or something...I got off ebay and it did something similar to what you described in no short time. I have replaced with Beck Arnley and it's holding up great. If the OEM is really that price, just ****** it up.

The best thing to do is to have a machine shop or someone with a press..press out the old and press in the new ball joint...after removing the snap ring of course.

 

From what I understand you said the ball joint is newly installed and the boot has tore, why replace it again? You have already put the labor into installing a new ball joint and it makes no sense to me to replace the current ball joint with one of better value. I chose Moog because I put a lot of miles on my car (71 mile commute to work) and I don't want to overhaul the suspension annually. Now, back in my college years when I was on a tight budget, it was Autozone because i had the skill and tools to replace the parts.

To answer your questions, if the ball joint is new with a bad boot, replace the boot, add some grease, and it will be fine. Are you sure that is am actual OEM and not the brand name OEM? I get my original Honda parts form here:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...tcgry5=KNUCKLE

They want $23.63 for a Musashi brand ball joint.

 

Bought 2 ball joints for $70 and to replace $335

Hope moog ball joint hold for a lonnnggg time -_-

 

Some Napa parts are cheaply made and you can tell it's some Chinese or American made crap. I bought swaybar endlinks last March from Napa, and they were already rusting and cracking within a year You get what you pay for in the car game.

 

Yes, I already paied for the labor to install the new lower ball joint. But those ball joint are the cheapest one from NAPA, not even a genuine OEM Honda ball joint. I thought it is better to change them for OEM since they are only 16$.

I think it is a mind game, cheap NAPA = bad, I am afraid it will fail anytime soon !!!!! I think I am brainwashed by the OEM part propaganda !!

Indeed , after reflexion, it doesnt make sense to change the ball joint again.

How easy is it to replace the boot myself ? Any video or instructions on how to do that. ??

Thanks for help.

 

I ll try to get some pictures of the ball joints soon.

 

The OEM ball joints do not come with a snap ring. By design I don't see why they over engineered it to begin with.

I think you'll be ok for a little bit, not long though. And I know napa and advance love to hate, meaning if you tore that boot separating the LCA from the LBJ then they will not honor their warranty on the part.

Have you seen the video on youtube where the guy uses a craftsman ratchet to seperate the LBJ ? Awesome win.

BTW good for you on replacing the LBJ a lot of people don't know that a LBJ can fail instantly and you will be in trouble if you're driving on the High way.

 

When you paid whomever to install the new ball joint, did you provide the part or did they? How long has it been since the install? Reason I ask is if they provided the part, you could take it back and haggle them because the boot is already busted. Or the person who installed the ball joint could have messed up the boot on installation causing its premature failure.

 

@jabontke
I provide the part I bought at NAPA.
It was installed, just before Christmas, so the ball joint is 1 month old.
I was with the mechanic when he installed it and I dont remember that he forced the balljoint
or break it when installing it. Maybe I missed something.
But to install it he used a air hammer to install it , he didnt used a press or a clamp.
As far as i remember he didnt it the rubber


@10thcb7 : thanks for letting me known OEM doesnt have the snap ring. I think it is better to have the snap ring otherwise, the ball joint can come off easily ???? I read in other forums and some people got the OEM ball joint coming off the hole.



no pictures of my torn ball joint rubbber boot yet ... soon !

 

I'm surprised that Honda oem balljoints don't have a snap ring as it has what appears to be a spot for it in the knuckle, however when I had aftermarkets installed I saw the ball joints installed but never actually saw the oem one after it was removed.

 

The ball joint should still be good (assuming you haven't done any drakar style rallying or amazon river crossing). it will just need some new grease applied and a new boot.

As for doing the work yourself, someone mentioned earlier that there is a video of a guy using a craftsman ratchet:
If you watched your mechanic, you should have seen the process needed to get to the ball joint. The ball joint should have a wire clamp on the boot base you have to take off to remove the busted boot. Check to see if the replacement boot comes with a new clamp. If it does, you can tear off the old one. If not, try not to mess up the old clamp too much. The rest of it should be pretty self explanatory.

I hope this helps.

 

Here are the pictures of Both lower ball joint that are 1 month old.

So the 1rst image is the faulty rubber boot of the passenger side lower ball joint , Is this rubber boot finished or I can put the rubber back in place with a pick
without unscrewing the bolt ?????


The 2nd image is the driver side and seems to be ok.

I notice the faulty rubber boot had a really different shape compared to the driver side. is that normal too ?







Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

The rubber looks pinched, but not split open. I don't see that being an issue. Run it by your mechanic just to be sure.

 

thanks i m gonna see with him. anyway, it is not normal to have the boot pinched. How come it is pinched ??

The problem I see is that salt , water and sand can get into the joint resulting in premature wear , is that possible ?

 

My guess is the boot is binding in a twist. But that is just a guess.

If the boot is not properly sealing, then yes. It is possible for foreign contaminants to get into the joint and cause premature wear.

 

What happened is when they went to tighten down the castle nut the boot was turned and then when they tightened it it made it worse. You should be able to get by with undoing the castle nut and separating the ball joint and just turning the boot back straight. You can use a Pitman Puller to separate the ball joint after removing the castle nut. It's a 10 dollar tool you can get at most parts stores. I use it to separate any ball joint..upper..lower...tie rod. It's very easy to use and even easier than the Craftsman wrench method described earlier in this thread that I had used before.

 

hhummm does it means it was too tight that's why it turned the boot ? should it be tight with a dynamometer so the right strenght is used ???

 

If your mechanic plans on charging you to check it..just check it yourself. First off, just get one of these...you can get them at harbor freight or at most parts stores.

http://www.harborfreight.com/tie-rod...ller-1752.html

Undo the castle nut...it's a 17mm nut...then remove the cotter pin. Then take that puller and slide it sideways into the lower control arm then turn it so that the bolt of the puller is on the bottom and slide the other side around the knuckle. Then just line up the bolt of the puller to the ball joint bolt so that they are on top and bottom of each other and tighten the puller bolt(it's also a 17mm). It will easily separate or "pop" off the ball joint from the control arm. Then just check the boot with your hand. You should be able to adjust it so that it's straight. If not, just see if the boot appears to be in any danger. If not, you can probably just let it be. If there is any doubt, then you will need to completely remove the knuckle and take it to a mechanic that has a press or a machine shop that will remove that old ball joint and install a new one of your choice that you take him.

 

How does tightening the castle nut turn the boot? Think about this, the spindle is between the nut and boot. Also the spindle/castle nut/ball joint shaft turn independently of the ball joint base and boot. I am not trying to prove you are wrong, just trying to keep this guy from doing work he doesn't have to. If you say it is bound in a twist, then just turning the wheel would fix this, right. It's early, I hope I am right.

 

The LBJ on these cars is a sealed unit, if the boot is faulty or has blown there is no real proper way to repair the boot/refill it with grease. Note these BJs do not have a grease nipple. The good BJ is swollen because it is full of grease, the other is not because it no longer has its reservoir.

When replacing LBJs in the '95 I ended up buying six, ordering another six just to get a pair of BJs that did not have the boots already ruptured from some jackass not knowing how to use the LBJ tool correctly.

 

Thanks you all for the insight !!

I am going to change again the ball joint with the MOOG ball joint. I found them at 26$ each So not too bad. And my mechanic will change both for 60$ So I think it is reasonable !