I have one ball joint that is worn and it appears from reading here and other sites that it is non-serviceable. My local parts stores list and carry the ball joints though.

I had an 86 Porsche 944 Turbo with non serviceable a-arm ball joints but folks figured out how to change them by grinding out the epoxy that covered the retaining clip and was able to remove the clip and press out the old ball joint, press in the new one and it's new clip and then re epoxy. Instead of buying a $350 a-arm, most people started buying the ball joint for $40 and rebuild their own.

Is this possible with the 96 850 joints or is it really and truly non serviceable?

 

FCP Groton sells aftermarket A-Arms for $37.99

http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exe...ategory_id/181

 

Ahh.....that looks like the deal. Thanks man. I was looking at Advance's web site and their price was $140 each.

 

Are the ball joints part of the arm? That is, if I got a new arm, would there be a new ball joint in that arm?

 

The only model 850 that you could swap out the ball joint was on the 93 model and some early 94 models. Every model year after that has the non-swappable ball joint. Your 96 850 has the newer control arms so you need to replace the whole arm.

 

37.99 A- arms? Hmm... while I LOVE FCP Groton, and their quality is usually good... make sure that those A- arms aren't made by Scan- Tech... I've seen Scan- tech a- arms fail after less than a year. If they're not Scan- Tech, it's worth a try.

 

I was just reading about URO rad hoses...
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index..._fromsearch__1

 

You Cant go wrong with FCP......they have replaced most of my Car....

 

Replaced my control arm two years ago, and it seems the ball joint has failed again. About 15-20k miles. The price was $60 then from FCP. I'm going to try another brand.