help with part

[lloydrage]

All,

Please dont say use search because I have to know what these things are called first. Could be ball joints no idea. Anyways....

I did my brakes and rotors this weekend, when I did I noticed some stuff looked pretty used. I have links to pictures below.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3


What is in each picture and should I replace them? How much are the parts and can I do it myself?

thanks to all

LLOYD

 

[M4rk]

#3 looks like a sway bar end-link. I paid $180 for all 4, from Rockauto.com. Moog parts (better than OEM ). Easy to install yourself.

 

[lloydrage]

ok, what does that part do exactly?

 

[lloydrage]

also that picture shows three differnet things, not different angels for same thing

 

[LS4me]

Looks like....

Upper ball joint

Lower ball joint

Stabilizer bar link

The stabilizer bar links are easy to do. IIRC, I paid just over $100 for the Moog parts. The lower ball joint needs to be pressed out (if you can find a shop to do it) and the new one pressed-in; or replace the knuckle with the ball joint installed. The ball joints were, IIRC, ~$100; the knuckle will set you back over $300 each! The upper ball joint requires the entire arm to be replaced at the tune of ~$100 apiece.

 

[oddball]

Is your front end alignment OK?
With the boots torn up, you'll get dirt inside the joints. They'll start to wear, get out of round, get loose, etc. Can eventually fall apart. First symptoms are bad alignment that won't hold, uneaven tire wear, pulling to left or right, etc. Typical front end suspension problems. A shop should tell you if parts are shot when doing an alignment. You can also just take it in for a used car inspection - usually 1 hr labor - and they'll note things like that. Some shops consider the boots to be "cosmetic" and say to leave them on until they show problems.

So, these are not necessarily critical, but certainly a problem.
You'll have issues with shops on the lower ball joints. The official channels don't recognize the existence of the ball joints, instead saying you need to do the whole knuckle. Try to find a shop that will do it all for you (cheaply), or pull the knuckles yourself, buy the joints yourself, and find a friendly shop that will just do the pressing.

The picture of the lower is too dark for me to tell what's going on. I assume the boot is just torn.

Sway bar end links, well, link the sway bar to the control arms. For basic suspension 101, you should do generic internet searches, get a book, find a local knowledgeable person, etc. Explaining all that via forum will just frustrate everyone.

 

[FASTLLS]

To add on the swaybar links, they controll the oversteer/understeer

 

[FASTLLS]

I agree with ls4me.. the ball joints give a pivot point for the suspension.. in a nutshell..