Ball joints, Control Arms, and Confusion..

Rivers

Active LVC Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
57
Reaction score
1
Location
805
Not sure if this is the place for this.. And I tried searching but I'm still a little confused..

A while ago my car started thudding over bumps.. then whenever I turned the wheel it would make this screeching noise.. the noise got louder and louder. Had my dad look at it, He said it was coming from the control arm. Called the local Ford dealer, they estimated it would be about $1400 for the whole thing. Big Brand told us about $1000. I decided to look elsewhere for the parts and my dad and I could install them ourselves. Found entire control arms from a junkyard for only $100 each, but the guy said there was no ball joints to be seen ( :confused: ). I did some searching and I see that now you can buy ball joints separately from the control arm and that seems how most people are fixing their ball joints nowadays. But Ford insists that you cannot buy ball joints separately, and Big Brand says you can but it's not recommended because when the ball joint is pressed in, the aluminum vs. steel will cause the aluminum to bend and warp because it is easily malleable..

Is this true? Or are the separate ball joints ok? Can somebody please clear this up for me? Thanks..
 
Did the aluminum bend and warp when the parts were originally assembled? The greatest problem is that there will be a degree of corrosion 'freezing' the ball-joint to the arm. You should remove the arms, and soak the arm/ball-joint area in a penetrating fluid for a couple of days. Then things should be straightforward. Although it's possible to beat the old ball-joints out with a hammer, you really need to use a press. In a pinch a big vise might be used.

I am a little puzzled about your 'screeching'. Are you sure it's not your belt making noise against the pump for your power steering?

KS
 
Sounds like the screeching could have been metal on metal caused by a torn boot, drying up the joint.

A knowledgeable shop can press in the joint without damaging the knuckle.
 
Thanks.

Cammerfe, coincidentally, there is a noise coming from the belt, but there is definitely a noise coming from the control arms as well.

Did some searching on youtube and it sounds pretty much like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jPuTMNN_t4


(lower your volume before opening, 'cause this is kind of loud)


2000Sport, thanks. After reading that I think I'm going to take it to another shop in the morning and get a second opinion since I dont really trust Big Brand..
 
You need to hit the ball joint with wd-40 or, if you have grease fitting for the ball joint, hit it with some grease. If there is no way to get to the ball joint. drill a hole large enough to get the straw from the can of wd-40 into the boot and fill the boot till it starts leaking out. then turn the wheel a few times to work the wd-40 in. It is what was said above about the dried up ball joint, but someone obviously doesnt listen. This is only a temporary fix.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a try.

And it's not that I don't listen, I'm ordering the parts now actually.. It's that I want to be 100 percent sure.. I didn't want to buy ball joints if the whole assembly needs to be replaced, and I didn't want to buy a whole assembly if it's just that I need ball joints..
 
Indeed, since WD40 actually dries up and leaves dry metal to metal interfaces even worse than before in a week or less. It isn't oil. If you put water in there, it will quiet it down temporarily as well.

The OP, the part that receives the lower ball joint is called the steering knuckle. The ball joint stud sticks through the lower control arm and gets fastened with a nut. The upper control arm does contain a ball joint.
 
After replacing the ball joint and wheel hub, I'm back in business... But if I were you, I would definitely get that fixed... my almost new tie rod end (passenger side) is shot again somehow... so now that gets to be replaced next...
 
I have ball joints pressed in and have had no problems..

Correct me if I am wrong , but the upper ball joints are not serviced seperately , by Ford or aftermarket , lowers are sold lots of places except by Ford , they service the lower arm complete with the ball joint Frank
 
Correct me if I am wrong , but the upper ball joints are not serviced seperately , by Ford or aftermarket , lowers are sold lots of places except by Ford , they service the lower arm complete with the ball joint Frank

Correct.

The lowers are what I'm looking for.

I didn't get to order them last night, and the Moog ones disappeared off RockAuto this morning. All that's left is Deeza with a 2 year/40,000 mile warranty.. I'll keep looking for the Moog ones..
 
Since the lowers are the load carrying bearing, they are the more common to go bad.. Aftermarket only supports the lowers.. Uppers would need to be bought as the whole assembly..
 
The lowers are what I'm looking for.

I didn't get to order them last night, and the Moog ones disappeared off RockAuto this morning. All that's left is Deeza with a 2 year/40,000 mile warranty.. I'll keep looking for the Moog ones..

E-Bay has them although I would not pay this amount , but for your info

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moog...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
FASTLLS Since the lowers are the load carrying bearing, they are the more common to go bad.. Aftermarket only supports the lowers.. Uppers would need to be bought as the whole assembly

Agreed -- Frank
 

Members online

Back
Top