I took my car in for an alignment today. I did this more so I could get the suspension check than the alignment since I felt there were issues. They found that the passenger side ball joint was bad. On my car that means I replace the entire arm. I was looking for a write up about this but didn't fine one. Do I need to compress the spring while I do this or can I just support the hub? Does anyone have any guidance on this project? I have rebuilt front ends before but this is my first on a front wheel drive car. I will be replacing the tie rod ends at the same time since the boots on both are torn.

 

Just support the hub...the spring will stay compressed unless you take the strut assembly apart.

Jack up so everything is extended, take off the nut holding ball joint to hub, separate ball joint from hub with a pickle fork and a hammer, take out bolts holding control ATM to sub frame, and install new one in reverse order.

 

What he said, it's pretty easy. Get it up on jack stands, three bolts and you're in and out. Well ... some fighting with rust and some prying but it's not hard. The spring stays on the strut so there is no need to do anything with it. It will just hang down form the mount on the fender.

 

I realized pretty early on that using a regular hammer was just gonna **** me off, so I used a mini-sledge - had the ball joint separated in 2 swings. =D

 

It can be done without a special tool but it's not fun. I usually stick a large screw driver in the ball joint receiver and try to pry it open a little, works for me.

 

Thanks all for the guidance. I see on the IPD site that they have two arm/ball joint assembly's with very different prices, does anyone have any experience with the cheaper one? Is it holding up, same with the tie rod ends?

 

I got mine from FCP for about 35 bucks each. Been on the car for about 9 months now and no problems to report.

 

I just did a bit of comparison shopping and FCP has better prices than I originally thought. I'll be ordering in the morning.

 

Yeah and if you read the warranty: its lifetime on parts from FCP.

 

why not aluminum control arms off of a 93 or early 94 850 that allows you to replace the ball joints and bushings easily?

No need to buy a whole new arm every time. Also a little less weight

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...5-850-a-69460/

scroll down and you will see what they look like

 

From FCP's site:

All of our products carry a 1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty. In addition, FCP also provides a Limited Lifetime Warranty for all automotive products, regardless of the manufacturer's warranty, provided your product is installed by an ASE Certified Mechanic and you have registered your product for our Limited Lifetime Warranty through our FCP Groton warranty page within 30 days of your date of purchase.

Lifetime if installed by an ASE Tech !!
And you register it for the warranty.

What is doesn't make clear is if you are an ASE certified tech and you install your own part do you get the warranty?
I wrote them to ask.

 

Well, on the one hand for a daily driver buying the one piece arm with a lifetime warranty you get a new ball joint and both control arm bushings. If any of it gets loose or worn you pull the arm and exchange it. You now have a new arm, new ball joint, new bushings. It's one less bolt that doing just the ball joint itself on the aluminum arm.

Aluminum arms are more difficult (expensive) to source, the ball joint is replaceable and if you go with something like MOOG or a brand name quality joint you will have a lifetime warranty. You can upgrade to a polyurethane bushing and you shouldn't have to worry about ever replacing them.

I'd rather go with the aluminum, a Moog and polyurethane but I purchased complete arms at Autozone with a lifetime warranty. If I come across a pair of aluminum I might end up pulling them, exchanging them and then selling the one piece arms to upgrade.

 

IS there that big a price difference between buying the control arm with the ball joint and just buying the ball joint?

And yeah I forgot to mention the ASE part - no biggie for me, because I have several friends who are ASE certified. =D

 

For me the place wanted $45 ea for the arms. These are used arms and you would want to replace the bushings.
Bushings $45 a pair depending on where you get them.
Moog ball joint $55 ea

Dorman lifetime control arm complete $180 vs $290 for separate components for me (both sides).

 

Or fcp complete: about 65 bucks both sides.

 

Unless you're broke and unemployed I'd stay away from the 30 dollar arms. There is a reason they are dirt cheap.

I wouldn't expect much out of a complete control arm that sells for less than a quality ball joint or bushing alone does.

At lest go for the Meyle brand arms for 59 ea.

 

I've had the 30 dollar ones on my car for almost a year now with no issues.

 

I ordered the Meyle arm, figured it was the in the middle price range.

 

Got a chance to replace the a arm today. That is about the easiest ball joint/arm I have ever done. 1.5 hours start to finish.

 

I installed some used aluminum arms on my car about 1-1/2 years ago. I'm about to check them out to see if I need to replace the bushings or ball joints. One of the ball joints was getting worn when I installed them.

We all understand that "Lifetime Warranties" on these old car parts are really not expected to last longer than 3 years. The odds of you keeping a 10+ year old car is rare for 90% of the population. So, if you want a part that will last 10 - 15 years like the original part, buy OEM or get a known quality part.