imported_SaYjAiBaO

how do you know when your ball joints go bad? i get a creeking kind of sound whenever i turn slowly or slowly come to a halt or slowly accel. i'm trying to figure out what the problem is because it sounds like my car is barely holding together! this is in the front left side btw.

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

check to see of the boot of the ball joint is ripped and if the grease has leaked out. Also jack the car up and pull on the tire from the top and bottom, and then pull on it from the left and right side. If there is excessive play while pulling on the tire then you know there is a problem.

imported_SaYjAiBaO

there's no play, i got all my bushings redone. and the cv boots are fine, nothing seems to be ripped. could it just be my struts that are causing the creaking noise?

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

try puttin a little grease on the sway bar "D" bracket busings or 'sway bar frame bushings' as i believe honda calls them. They tend to squeak....especially if they're polyurethane.

imported_SaYjAiBaO

mine's a cx. theres no sway bar nor any holes for them haha.

eMoney

I have the same problem when I slow down, i get the noise....

imported_EK2NV

bump
i also have the same problem

dingus88

lower ball joint

ayaycee

How hard it to change the lower balljoints? How much do people charge for this job? I think mine are gone.

9HatchSi3

i just had both of my lower ball joints replaced
was 300

jdm_416

whoa 300 is kinda steep for two balljoints...i dunno

nsxvtec

Jack up the car and place a flat pry bar or similar between the lower control arm and the knuckle at the ball joint and pry up motion and down motion.
Any movement indicates a worn ball and socket and the BJ should be replaced. If this is the case , you really do not want to roll the dice. if you drive the vehicle year round, doing lots of km. OEM parts I perfer as the M---g and others seem to fail sooner. Look at this one that was removed. This was after the the ball was pushed back into the socket. BallJointMovie.MPG - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage
300 to remove and replace 2 front lower BJ,s parts taxes and labour is not excessive.
The drive axles must be removed from the knuckle, and most times the knuckle is removed from the car and the BJ pressed out. With the some skill and a bit of elbow grease (the ultimate persuader:-large heavy hammer) or the right BJ press it can be done on the car without removing the knuckle. Do a bit of a search around here. There is quite a bit of info on this topic.

rick10

I recently had the same problem. My mechanic greased up the balljoints and the noise is gone. I also had the ball joints on the right side change for 350 ( lower and upper arm)

JDMej1

^^ knows what hes talking about. i was just about to say the exact same thing pretty much. at the shop i work at i doit probably 3 or 4 times a day

nsxvtec

By the time you hear the noises, the BJ is already damaged.
Inspecting and choosing to repack the BJ with grease is not the course of action I would want or expect from a competent mechanic.

The movie clip I posted was on a vehicle that was doing 120+ km on a major 400 series highway that morning. It came off in the parking lot before the vehicle could repeat the evening rush hour drive. Life threatening consequences from this type of failure are real.
If there is any hint of play or noise from the BJ change it or have it changed by a respectable technician.

JDMej1

yeah normally theyd replace it, repacking it is just not good enough..