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Ball-joints creaking, how much longer until they go?

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AlphaAssault

15+ Year Contributor
480
1
Sep 5, 2007
Tyler, Texas
So the ball joints on my 90 GSX have begun creaking whenever I turn, hit a bump, or just rock the car side to side. I know its the ball-joints because if i give them a good spraying with WD40, they shut up for a while. My question is how long after they start creaking will they last before they fail?
 
So the ball joints on my 90 GSX have begun creaking whenever I turn, hit a bump, or just rock the car side to side. I know its the ball-joints because if i give them a good spraying with WD40, they shut up for a while. My question is how long after they start creaking will they last before they fail?

Your playing with fire there buddy....Once they go, its too late, and you better not be going at a high rate of speed or GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!

Mine started to do that as well a while ago, once i removed them, my right front side ball joint housing was split almost in half. So i would go and take care of that ASAP, or look for a ditch to fly into if one goes man...
 
Oh wow, thanks for the quick response. Where can I get those joints from? Does some place sell them, or do i need to go online to get just the joints themselves (im not interested in replacing the arms). For clarification, are you talking about the lower ball joints or the upper? The lower front are the ones making the noise on my car. Also, how difficult is it to replace the joints by myself? i know you need some special tools to pop them out of the arms, but other than that, is it very complicated? Im mechanically inclined, but ive never swapped out ball joints before. Can someone give me a quick walk-through of how to change them out?
 
Go to carquest and get the MOOG brand....They are the best. I am talking about the lowers. It takes about 30mins per side, depending on how hard they are to pound out. I used a hammer, torch, and WD40 and had them out quickly. the only difficult thing to do is getting the lock ring set once you pop them in.
 
What all needs to be taken apart to get to those joints? obviously, the wheel has to come off, but what else? I dont feel like taking the whole lower suspension apart, heh.
 
I just had a tie strap to pull the tire all the way out to lock the steering wheel, removed the spindle nut on the top of the joint, heated it up, hit it with WD4-, took a hammer and pounded it out. Its not all that hard.
 
I have decided that Ill ###### replace the joints myself. However, that car is my daily driver, so back to my original question: how long do those ball joints last after they start creaking? Ive got to drive to work a day or two on those joints, and I have a 7 hour road trip to make saturday. Now, I know the road trip isnt a good idea, and I dont plan on going until I have new joints. But would it be safe to drive to work a few times while i get the parts? Also, someone said I can get parts from carquest, did you mean i can get them from the store, or that i can get the joints from carquest online? I looked and there isnt a carquest store near where I live. Where is another place I can get these joints from? I dont think i have the time to get the joints shipped, because im taking the car saturday, if at all possible.
 
Dude you need to replace the lower control arms you can pick one up from auto zone for about $60 make sure you get that done before your wheel falls off at the stop light..
 
You don't need to replace the whole control arm. You can get the ball joints at any major auto parts store. Nobody is going to tell you it's ok to drive with them like that, because they could break at any time. Replacing them is going to take you longer than 30 minutes per side.
 
Ooooookaay, so... dont drive on them unless I have to, I get that part. Secondly, Im not going to replace the whole lower arm assembly for 2 very good reasons: 1) general consensus says I dont need to, and 2) I dont think I would be able to. I know where the ball joints are, I have looked at them by the wheel, and I feel confident that I can replace those. Also, GVR4592, how long do you think it will take me my first time at replacing those joints? you said ###### more than 30 minutes a side, why do you think it would take me longer?
 
I'm not saying you can't do it, because I think anybody could do it. Just don't jump into it thinking you'll be done in an hour, because it's very unlikely that it's going to happen.
 
Alrighty then, ive been reading up on how to swap out the joints, and now I have a few questions:

1) When taking out the ball-joint, does the wheel need to be supported or not? From what I understand, the car should be jacked up, but should I just let the wheel hang there or not?

2) What will I need in the way of special tools? Is it worth renting a ball-joint remover from Autozone, or can they be taken out without the remover? How about installation of the new joints, any special tools or techniques required there?

3) Do the nuts on the joint need to be torqued down a specific amount, or will tightening them by hand suffice?
 
Also, I can get lower ball-joints for 13 bucks each. I know that a good deal, but yould you guys trust $13 ball joints?
 
I have another question, in addition to the ones posted above (which remain open): From what i have read, the test to make sure the lower ball joints are OK is to grab the tire at the 6 and 12 o'clock positions, and try and wiggle the tire up and down (i.e. push the wheel in the Z direction, away from you, at the 6 and 12 positions), and if there is play, then the joints need to be replaced. If I try this on my GSX, and there is little or no play, does they mean they are still OK despite the creaking? Also, what is an acceptable amount of play when trying this method?
 
That is an ok way to check the ball joints. However, you should be looking under the car and seeing exactly where the play is. Most likely on a macpherson strut it will be the ball joints. But it could be coming from the wheel bearings. Most car makers specify a spec for ball joint movement. For 1gs any movement in the ball joint is bad. There should be none. Make sure you are lifting the car by something other than the lower control arm. If you are checking it while lifted on the LCA, you are loading the ball joint and it needs to be unloaded to check it.

You can also put a pry bar under the tire at the 6 O'clock position and push the tire up and down and look for axial movement in the ball joint. You generally can't feel this movement and MUST see it. The shaking is considered radial movement. Both should be ZERO.
 
Which takes priority? If theres no play but it still squeaks, does that mean they are fixing to break, or does that mean they are dried out from the cold and need some WD40? if there is play and squeaks, the i guess im shafted :|
 
I used a ball joint separator from Autozone and it made it alot easier. The bad thing is it tears the dust boot to pieces, but since your replacing them. There is nothing to be concerned about.
 
Yeah.. you really need to get that replaced asap. Once one of those go.. then your going to have a lot more issues than just replacing a ball joint. Go get them asap if you havnt yet.
 
While my car was in the shop for the PS leak, i asked them to take a look at the ball joints and tell me how much longer they were going to last. to my delight, they told me the ball joints were FINE, and that the struts were making the creaking instead. This place is more reputable than Midas, so I think ill believe these guys. Also, these guys said it wont hurt anything, that all early chrysler/mitsus did this. So, guess ill be holding off on the joints for a while. damn, im glad i didnt give midas the $600 they wanted to fix the noise...
 
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