Ball joints

Hi all, took my 2001 Accord four cylinder in to have the transmission oil
changed at 96,000km as per drivers manual, dealer told me that I needed
lower ball joints replaced. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and it gets cold but
most of my driving is on decent roads and I have good tires. Should'nt they
last longer than that and has anyone heard of a recall for faulty ball
joints ?
Thanks for any info.

 

I don't know about a recall. My 1993 Accord four cylinder has over
251,000 km and is still on the original ball joints. I just had the
dealer go over it in detail. Considering how much they charged for the
things that did need fixin', I imagine they would have thrown in ball
joints too f they were even a little worn.

Hope this helps.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

 

Has the steering been getting vague lately, with a shaking sensation when
you go over railroad tracks and similar bumps? If not, I'd be dubious about
the ball joints being bad. The usual reason for ball joints failing is torn
boots - and that isn't common if the front end hasn't been worked on.

Mike

 

i am not sure about hondas but if you can raise up your front end, put one
hand on top and one hand on the bottom, then shake the wheel back and forth
vertically, but not too hard if you hear any clicking with alot of play then
the ball joint prolly is bad.

 

Hi Scapa,

I'm in Winnipeg too, which dealership did you go to?

t

 

The test you mention is more likely to detect an upper ball joint
going bad on a honda. The lower is harder to diagnose
without actually disassembling the steering knuckle and
checking the actual balljoint for excessive play in the
ball socket.

t

 

there's another test that doesn not require disassembly. jack the wheel
just off the ground with a block under the lower arm so the suspension
remains compressed. then use a long lever under the tire to put load on
the wheel itself. any play should be evident at that time. have an
assistant operate the lever if required so you can see up close.

 

Hi - I'm in Toronto, and had a "ball joint misadventure"
with my '92 Accord about six months ago. After my wife
had curbed the left front tire rather badly in a parking lot,
I asked the local Honda dealership (in Markham, though
the exact locale shall remain, um, nameless...hint hint...)
to look things over for any signs of damage. They stated
that the front ball joints (upper) needed replacing, and to
illustrate the point, the mechanic took a wrench and
demonstrated the *slightest* bit of play in the upper
joint, which was really hardly detectable at all. Not
knowing anything about ball joints, I acquiesced to the
tune of about $350 USD ($425 CDN) for a replacement
of both upper ball joints. However, I now feel that this
work was probably unnecessary. In all fairness to Honda,
I should mention that I did have over 150,000 miles on
the car, but basically I think they just saw an opportunity
to push some repair work and took it. Bottom line is to
always do homework on any proposed repair which is
not 100% critical. I have learned the hard way that if you
really know what you are talking about (as I did not),
they usually won't bother trying to rip you off. - Paul

 

I did an upper on my 98 civic last summer. The reason Honda
charges so much for the upper balljoint is that they always
replace the whole upper control arm, on my civic that is $200
per side. There is almost no labour involved. The balljoints definitely
do wear after a while, you don't need your upper balljoints
popping out of the sockets, plus the alignment would never
be perfect if they are shifting all over the place. When
a balljoint is lifting and clicking in its socket, its time to
replace it.

By the way, I didn't end up going to Honda for that repair, I found
the upper balljoint without the control arm at NAPA for $40,
and popped the old one out of the existing control arm, then
took the control arm to a shop down the street and had the new balljoint
pressed
in for $20.

This method is a little risky cuz you can bend
the control arm, its very thin steel or aluminum, but I watched them do it
at the shop, and
compared it to the one on the other side before pressing
that one in, and it was perfect. No alignment probs.

Saved me almost $300, so I'm happy... and no probs to date.

t

 

I am at 250 K km and my ball joints are OK on Accord 91, in North Alberta