Ok so I'm just about done buying parts for my suspension rebuild and low and behold, I start having parts problems near the end of the acquisition!

I got 2 Beck Arnley upper ball joints off of Amazon and one is good but the other has a company jmstar printed on the top. (a quick google search returns scooter parts from China?) Also, the joint seems a little loose. Like I can move it back and forth with my hands. The other ball joint doesnt move with the same amount of force applied. Is this a problem? Should it be stiff with my own strength applied?

Good thing I got Sankei 555 for the lower ball joints since they hold more of the weight. I didnt want to compromise at all on those ones.

Thank you Honda Gurus!

 

bump. Anyone?

 

Unless you are running after market UCA's I wouldn't bother replacing the ball joints themselves, I would just order new UCA's from Honda. The thin steel of the UCA usually gets mangled trying to press out and in the ball joints.

If you have after market UCA with adjustable ball joints, (removed as it appears hardrace doesn't make the ball joint itself on their UCAs).

 

I would do like Tom said as well and order the whole arm. They also come with bushings that should probably be replaced at the same time. I went with a Moog UCA R series off Rock Auto and they came with sankei joints as well.

What lower ball joints did you order specifically? Do you have a link?

 

This is the joint that I ordered.

I had considered getting the whole arm since Ive heard its easier but the thing is I got the hardrace bushing kit which includes UCA bushings. So I figured while the arm was out might as well just do the bushings.

I was trying to go about it the most affordable way and buying ball joints was a little cheaper than buying the whole arm. I didn't see any reason to buy new arms with new bushings that I was just going to discard plus pay more for them.

Sankie joints?! Why does everyone but me get the good stuff?! lol

 

You are going to find that trying to replace the ball joints in the OEM upper control arms is going to be more costly than buying new UCA's.

Most people find out the OEM UCA distorts when you press the ball joint out which then forces you to buy a new UCA anyway.

I've been looking at the latest version TruHart UCA's for the EG civics as they use Hard Race bushings and I can always use Skunk2 Pro ball joints in the future when the upper ball joints wear out.

The latest version TruHart's have the ball joint bolts on the bottom like the Skunk2 Pro series and seems to have a stronger box for the ball joint to affix to.

 

If there's play in the joint it's a problem. IE if you can move the stud in and out it's bad. You should be able to rotate the stud though, a brand new one will be stiff, a used one will often move quite easily but as long as there is no play the ball joint is fine.