replacing upper ball joint

[Potatoswatter]

I need to replace my front upper ball joint. For some reason it seems there are more suppliers for the whole control arm assembly or camber upgrade kits. Beck-Arnley makes a lone, non-upgrade, balljoint though, part #101-4786.

Actually, autozone.com says it fits but SpeedyCarParts.com says it doesn't. Hmm.

Is getting it out of the control arm likely to be a hassle? Will this $23 part be any good? (I do sometimes drive on rough roads.)

[Tippey764]

The upper ball joint is part of the upper control arm. When the balljoint is replaced without replacing the control arm it becomes weaker some times. Honda only sells upper balljoints as a whole control arm

Replacing the upper control arm is easy.

Unbolt the 2 bolts in the engine bay
Unbolt the upper balljoint

Remove

As for the quality of the part im unsure but:

You get what you pay for

[deevergote]

Honestly, I would buy new arms with ball joints directly from Honda. You don't want to mess around with these parts. If they fail (due to inferior parts, or improper installation), you crash...

[kouzie]

I'm not saying you have to but I brought the complete arm from autozone and had it for years without any problem.

[CiNCitYCB7]

Definitely want to replace the whole arm. I've seen ball joints break in person. It's no bueno. Lots of damage even if you don't crash

[bobbycos]

Definitely want to replace the whole arm. I've seen ball joints break in person. It's no bueno. Lots of damage even if you don't crash

x2

[Potatoswatter]

Thanks all! I think I'm going with the $40 Dorman part… they're at least somewhat American so the quality can't be too deadly, right…

[mercyboy]

Ya go to your honda a dealer....a new ball joint is way better, comapare to a used one...you never know how long the used ball joint was used

[BadIS]

I agree with the rest of the guys. Buy the whole arm and call it a day. I had VW brake a ball joint and almost totalled my car because of it.

[Potatoswatter]

Thanks all! I ordered it off Amazon a week ago with free shipping and got it today.

Quality seems OK. The Dorman is a pound or two heavier than the OEM part. It appears to implement the spring mechanism in the balljoint rather than the hinge. So getting the balljoint into the knuckle meant jacking the lower control arm waaaay up, so the car even lifted off the initial jacking point. Otherwise, is there a difference?

Also, the main mounting nuts were a less common size. Honda uses 17mm while Dorman uses 18.

Tippey764 was right and the Haynes manual was WRONG. Unbolt the arm from the engine bay, not the upper wheel well.

That's all folks!

[sow3r]

hey bro did you had to do any type of alignment to the car?
im going to do this cause both my upper and lower C.A. are crap.

[bcjammerx]

our upper ball joints are actually pressed in and have a c-clip holding them in via groove on the ball joint.

I bought "aftermarket" upper control arms from a very reputable seller...the groove for the clip did not appear to be deep enough, I hit a "routine" pot hole and the clip got pushed out. If you don't hit any pot holes they will work for you.

If you get aftermarket arms they have new bushings and this same pressed in and held in via clip style. My ones that were on the car from the factory took abuse for 15 years and never popped out...these aftermarket ones lasted 15 minutes on my road...which is why I don't like this type of ball joint.

FYI The lower ball joints also have a clip, but the new joints from honda no longer have a clip as they are pressed in and don't need the clip. At least get the LOWER joints from honda please...if the upper fails you are LESS likely to wreck...I've had mine fail...not safe if they fail...but if the lower fails you WILL wreck. and OEM from majestic are like $15 a piece...that's cheap.

I opted for spc ball joints because they BOLT in and I haven't had any issues with them...aside from some slight installation trouble...but that was only on one. On the plus side...IF i ever get around to getting aftermarket suspension I'm already good to go for neg camber...but mainly they are fucking kick ass ball joints.

[Potatoswatter]

hey bro did you had to do any type of alignment to the car?
im going to do this cause both my upper and lower C.A. are crap.

I didn't get an alignment. Like OEM this has no camber adjustment. Car doesn't pull.

An alignment is useless if you have mechanical problems. If you got now CA's and now you're out of alignment because they're the wrong shape, you're throwing good money after bad. Get rid of 'em!