can urethane bushings help the feel of bad ball joints?

[boostboyike1]

my ball joints are bad mainly the compression ones and was wondering will urethane bushings help a little.and i already did the recall on the latterals.thanks!

 

[Rx3]

No. Replace the bad ball joints.

 

[bjones18]

my ball joints are bad mainly the compression ones and was wondering will urethane bushings help a little.and i already did the recall on the latterals.thanks!

Ball joints hold your wheel on your car. These joints may see 5-7g's of loading during a pot-hole or curb strike. Tire wear and steering pull are side effects from loose ball joints


A freind was doing 130 around a sweeping bend....steering felt loose...he pulled over....front lower control arm was riding on the inboard surface of the wheel (broken ball joint).

fix the ball joints.

 

[GVR4592]

Don't urethane bushings cost more than replacement ball joints? Why the hell would you want to band aid a major suspension component with a part that cost more?

 

[boostboyike1]

No they dont.Anyway i replaced the ball joints. the laterals i took off and they seamed ok.but others were shot so i just replaced them but didnt help my problem.When i hit a bump i hear a loud clank sound and i can feel it in steering wheel ..also my steering feels"loose".both inner and outer tie rods are new to...thanks ..isaac

 

[tsunari]

No they dont.Anyway i replaced the ball joints. the laterals i took off and they seamed ok.but others were shot so i just replaced them but didnt help my problem.When i hit a bump i hear a loud clank sound and i can feel it in steering wheel ..also my steering feels"loose".both inner and outer tie rods are new to...thanks ..isaac

How 'new' are those inner/outer tie rod ends? I personally replaced an outter tie rod end not knowing that the inner one was bad and 2 months later (when I figured out the inner one was bad) the brand new outer one was completely shot!

 

[bjones18]

Don't urethane bushings cost more than replacement ball joints? Why the hell would you want to band aid a major suspension component with a part that cost more?

It ain't the cost of the ball joint...it is the cost of the whole lower control arm. Since the ball joints are "not service-able" you have to replace the control arm ($$$).

 

[GVR4592]

Ouch I didnt know that, sorry guys. Once again I've made an ass of myself. I just replaced my lower ball joints and inner and outer tie rod ends for $125. I didnt know 2g balljoints weren't serviceable.

 

[Eagle 5]

Um, both ball joints are serviceable, you can go to Napa and buy the ball joints. However in my case, where someone before me decided it was a good idea to weld one of the ball joints in, I had to replace the control arm

 

[tsunari]

I personally didn't think the balljoints on the control arms were service-able . . . the lateral control arm isn't TOO expensive ($40-50), but the lower control arm (looks like a boomerang) . . . THAT thing is expensive!

 

[bjones18]

Um, both ball joints are serviceable, you can go to Napa and buy the ball joints. However in my case, where someone before me decided it was a good idea to weld one of the ball joints in, I had to replace the control arm

Are you talking about tie-rod ends? They are quite different than control arm ball-joints. The original posting was for a 2g. It has a "double ball joint" 2-piece LCA set up. Both ball joints are integral to the arm. The arms are forged. Ball socket is then machined in the forging. Plastic races (AcrilonitrileButadieneStyrene, Delrin, Nylon 6/6 or the like) are inserted, ball stud inserted followed by a lower plastic race, (sometimes with a spring) then capped by a flat steel disk. The edges of the forging are then "rolled" over the flat steel disk. Joint preload is controlled by the rolled edge, and "height" of the flat plate. Boot is pressed on from the opposite side, then joint is greased. If you grind off the rolled edges, these parts will fall out for inspection.

You cannot buy the internal BJ parts for the 2g front LCA. If your boot tears, your BJ will go bad in a few thousand miles. This part appears to be a TRW ball-joint/boot.

I was able to get a couple actual boots to fix my torn boots (good luck finding them) TRW makes several boots very-very close in size to each other. I had to make a special tool to install them.