Although you are forced to buy the whole lower control arm if the ball joint is worn I am sure there exists a ball joint for another make/model of car that would work with this car.

I own a Mistu 3000GT that has the same kind of issue of needing to buy the whole arm ($350 each...a little insane) but a 3000GT owner who works in the auto parts industry did a little research and found a solution as seen below:

http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/Ball_Joints

The ball joints are simply pressed out with a kit you can get as a loaner tool at any parts and the replacements are pressed in place. You save about $300 per side this way and the TRW repalcement is a made in the USA part. I did mine 2 years ago and they work fine.

I have searched but have failed to find a part number for repalcement ball joints for the S70 line.

Has a hack been found yet?

 

The ball joints on these cars are, in fact, a single unit with the control arm- the joint itself is part of the same casting. There's nothing to press out. Besides, most ball joints on cars that have separately replaceable ones cost between $30 and $70. You can get decent quality aftermarket control arms for $70-$100. Given the extra work that would be needed to do this, even if it COULD be done, it wouldn't be worth it. Besides, with new control arms come new bushings, which are usually cracked and worn anyway.

 

Is this what your looking for?

http://www.europartsdirect.com/epc-items.asp

 

Im guessing your from Texas or the USA.
I work at a parts store in Canada so I can check tomorrow and get back to you on it.

Im not sure what companies you guys have there but Ill give it a shot if you still want.

Let me know by tomorrow morning 7am (ET)

 

Thanks I appreicate that.


Carrots,

I highly doubt the control arm and ball joint are cast as one unit from the factory. Many manufacturers refuse to sell just the ball joint because they do not want the liability that comes from careless service where a snap ring is not installed properly, the joint comes off, and the car crashes resulting in death or injury.

The other bushings are fine. Pressing one in is not too hard to do with the arm still on the car. With the arm off it is very easy.

 

They actually are on these cars. 100% sure of this. The body of the ball joint is cast into the arm, and then the lower bearing part is pressed into the bottom of the assembly and crimped into place, then the upper part is crimped over the ball stud. It's impossible to separate the ball joint from the control arm. I know there are a lot of cars that supposedly have non- replaceable ball joints where the ball joint is a separate piece, but this isn't one of them.

Besides, FCPgroton is apparently selling control arms for $35 each now, and they aren't Scan- Tech/Dorman. (which is the one "stay away from it" brand that I know of for these cars.)

And yes, I know it's easy to press the bushings in. I'm just saying, though, that all things considered, it's not worth it to replace just the bushings in most cases. As a professional, the labor cost to do the pressing + the cost of the bushings themselves is not that far off from the cost of a new arm, and while I'd offer either option to the customer if I ever saw that situation (usually the ball joint will fail first, though) I would push for control arm replacement, especially since the ball joint is the weak link, and isn't separately removable.