Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange
Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [ball-joint]

29 questions
7
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Can I jack up the front of my car on the lower control arm near the ball joint without damaging anything? (Honda Civic EM2)

I want to place the front of the car on jackstands while the car is parked above my inspection pit. I can't use the jack points behind the front wheels (on the sides of the car) to jack it up because that's where the jackstands will be placed. I…
Unimportant
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7
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1 answer

What exactly is an outer CV joint and how can I replace one?

I recently got my 2004 VW Passat B5 a new MOT, but they said that an advisory item that would get worse over time were worn outer CV joints. The car creeks when turning on full left lock, though I haven't checked the full right lock recently. There…
Max Goodridge
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2 answers

Is alignment needed after replacing upper control arms?

My yearly NY inspection revealed a bad upper ball joint and the shop gave me a quote to replace it. One of the line items on the quote was an automatic and irremovable item which read "Auto: alignment required". After some research I decided it…
MonkeyZeus
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Do I need any special tools to replace a ball joint that appears to be able 'bolt on'?

Every ball joint replacement instructional video or website I've looked up online indicates that to remove the ball joint you must use a special tool to pop the ball out of the socket. When ordering new parts for my Mk1 Golf/Rabbit I realised the…
MeltingDog
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4
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2000 Ford Taurus ABS reluctor ring grinding on lower ball joint

My Taurus started to make a grinding noise in the front. When I looked at it I could see the ABS reluctor ring was grinding on the lower ball joint. My plan is to replace the axles/reluctor rings, but I was wondering if this may be from the struts…
Marty
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4
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1 answer

Ball joints and boots are constantly in need of replacement?

I have a 2001 Honda Civic. Over the past couple of years I have had to have both front lower ball joints replaced multiple times. The last time I had these replaced I had used my car less than 4,000 miles. I don't really drive it anywhere that…
Bill Blankenship
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Do the front wheels turn a little bit on potholes and bumps?

I just replaced the inner and outer tie rods on a vehicle, and some time later was thinking about the linkage. I don't recall if the inner ball joint was at the same location as the inner suspension link, but even if it is when steering straight, in…
Adam Davis
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Is there any way to replace a ripped ball joint boot?

I installed new ball joints tonight. One side went in great. But one of the ball joints, when I was putting it in with the press, the rubber grease boot got pinched and ripped a tiny bit. And some grease came out. Is there anything I can do or do I…
Trevor
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Safe to drive back home with torn ball joint boot?

I have a torn ball joint boot on my old VW: I'm away from home, and ideally I'd drive back the 800km/500mi and change it then. The ball joint doesn't otherwise seem to have excessive play (the car recently passed its annual safety inspection), the…
user4520
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Is this ball joint okay?

I have been doing a suspension refresh on the rear of my e46 M3, replacing all the bushings and ball joints. I'm putting it all back together now and saw that the upper ball joint on the trailing arm didn't look right. It looks like the upper…
GdD
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3
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Using nylon lock-nuts in place of traditional slotted nuts & a cotter pin

I am replacing the front control arms on my vehicle (ball joints and the bushings are more than well-worn after 20+ years of service). But I am finding myself in somewhat of a predicament: all of the hardware currently on the vehicle will be…
Ethan Bierlein
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3
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1 answer

Changing Position of Cotter Pin Hole

The cotter-pin hole of the ball-joint is currently parallel to the control arm, and hence it is difficult to insert a cotter pin. How can it be made perpendicular to the control arm? In other words, how can we rotate the stud of the…
Toshimi Minoura
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Impossible to separate ball joint

I'm trying to replace the front control arms in my 2005 bmw 330ci (e46). I'm stuck trying to separate the inner ball joint on the passenger side. I'm using a pickle fork and a hammer. It seems that the pickle fork is fully inserted and the joint…
kjgregory
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Which is the offside link arm on my suspension?

In the last service on my 2010 Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet, the mechanic noted "offside link arm ball joint and nuts worn (Facing upward)". I may replace it myself, but I'm not certain which arm they're referring to. I've annotated these images that…
Daniel
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Vehicle vibrates when driving past 120kmh, this is after doing a routine clutch change on a Opel Corsa 1.4i

I had a new clutch kit along with the cam belt changed in my 2007 Opel Corsa as routine maintainance. The car was driving well all along... even did 160kmh while driving to the mechanics workshop. After the new clutch was fitted and service done on…
Tiisetso
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