Doing a 5 lug on my EJ, one of the lower ball joins will spin in the knuckle if I grab it and turn it, NO i'm not talking about the threaded rod, i'm referring to the whole assembly. I don't remember that being a "thing" so is that normal, the other one doesn't. Like most 5 lugs, it came from an importer the boot is fine and the unit clean, so i'm not sure what's going on.

 

Wrong balljoint. Its probably an aftermarket one with a C-clip. Get the right one and you should be on your way with the swap bud.

 

The early OEM ball joints came with snap rings from the factory, the revised current ones don't just saying. Either way it would be the C-clip causing this? I'd assume it would pop out relatively easy now? and shouldn't be used. Thank you tho.

 

Either the clip or the clip-less type should be enough of a press in that it doesn't spin. You have the wrong joint, or the hole is wallowed out.

 

Is it using a knuckle from a different model car? Is the part for THAT car or the EJ? Could be a different size. I have the part for EJ 1998 EX Sedan right here. It is 40MM on this cheap plastic caliper I'm using.

If the knuckle is old and has been used for many ball joint changes the hold could now be larger that it is supposed to be. Could need a new knuckle to tight and secure and transfer hp correctly.

 

It's a low KM 5 lug swap from a JDM ITR that is incredibly clean, I'm no stranger to used parts from japan, I have no suspicion of the condition of it. I did hit the ball joint pretty hard getting it off the other car, i'll just put a new OEM one in. I've just never had a spinning ball joint, usually I have to get someone to press them out.

Until I started hitting it, to remove it from the other car it was fine, I was simply curious as to how it happened, maybe it got smacked around harder before I got to it. Very unlikely I did something to a cast steel component with a small hammer and pry bar, as the joint was fine before I started hitting it, it just seems strange that it loosened so easily.

 

If you had to smack it than the balljoint was in there properly, the thread part just spins so thats probably gone and needed to be replaced.