I have creeking when I turn my steering completely to any side.

Took it to my mechanic and he said my ball joints are completely worn out (car has 80k) and I had to replace them with the knuckles since they're not built seperate- cost $1000. So I'm waiting on this- any danger in holding off- say a year when I sell my car

I've read a lot of people had them replaced- is this how much you guys paid?

I also read about a possible service bulletin on this, but didn't come across a particular bulleting number... any ideas?

Thanks in advance...

 

i'm going to be installing the spc front camber kit which is a direct replacement for the ball joints. and fyi, i've been driving with my front ball joints w/o a boot on it for ~15k miles now so it's been pretty dry for a while. my car doesn't make any creeking noises either. my car has 54k miles. and replacing ball joints is a doable diy.

http://.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18736

 

Ball joints can be replaced easily by yourself. A friend can help and it will only take a few hours. Rent the tools at Autozone if needed.

 

If your a "simple" man like your name says..

i wouldnt waste your time trying to install these yourself.

Umm.. Is he absolutely 100% positive the ball joints are causing the creeking? The upper ball joints NEVER fail and the lower ball joints squeek on our cars. Either that or they cause a vibration in the steering wheel.

I seriously doubt it's the ball joints causing the noise. That's like a 1,000$ mistake if he's some sideshop JOE SCHMO who thinks he knows everything about every car.

I recommend you fork up the 95$ diag. fee and take it to your local dealership and have them diagnose it. There is too many factors that cause creaking noises and ball joints are not your everyday occurance!

i work with these cars everyday..i'd pay to be sure.

 

If it is the ball joint it shouldn't be too hard to change. I changed one on my V6 accord. You just need a big hammer to beat the old one out. Or you could pay a few bucks to have a machine shop press it out.

 

i got mine replaced under warranty at like 35k....my mechanic said they were shot and he was right

 

i pressed out my stock upper balljoint to put in a ball joint camber kit...so i know for sure they are indeed separate. now the lower balljoint, never noticed if it was one piece or not

 

at first, like 3 years ago, acura only sold the balljoint WITH the complete knuckle. we couldn't order it separatly, but they saw it was making high bills under warranty so they made the balljoints available separatly shortly after we changed a few knuckles for that reason. i think it's about $75can each for oem (remember, autoparts jobber balljoints are not close at all to honda oem balljoints, they will fail much faster !)

so what he's saying about having to change the complete knuckles is wrong.

2 ways for a worn balljoint : creaking noise when turning (not loose in that case, but the ball begins to seise in the head), or tapping noise on bumps (ball is loose in the head and will break in the long run (dangerous and body damages))

 

Thanks all for the input.

I guess I'll take my car into the dealer to get a second opinion, and I'll specifically ask about individual ball-joints replacements- hoping that will knock the cost down.

 

What do you mean by "tapping"? I have noise comming form the rear of my TL when I go on speed bumps or dips at an angle or down the drive way at an angle and it makes like a.....croaking sound. Maybe your tapping and my croaking noise is the same?

 

I was recently quoted $145 installed each side,where is $1000 dollars coming from.

 

sorry i meant knocking.

knocking or creaking at the rear could be the sway bar's end links, knocking can also be the sway bar bushings. in the worse case, the upper arm could knock (it has bushings at the ends and we replaced a few lately).

in your case, i'd say it's most likely to be the end links (each has 2 metal balls rotating in plastic heads, all covered by metal cups.) if you lift the rear and push+pull on the ends of the sway bar, you can feel the creaking and sometimes even hear it. if you want to change them yourself, i'll give you the do's and dont's because the threads rust and the ball will start to spin in the plastic head if you try to unbolt the nut.

i'm a mechanic at acura and i see this a couple times a week (and here in the province of quebec, the roads are very nasty so suspension parts wear quickly compared to other areas).

 

My 01 is creeking really bad from the left front wheel. I can hear it when I turn the wheel or tap on the brakes, do you think this could be the balljoints too? It's lowered and no camber kit yet. Also, when I bought the car, the only thing wrong on the outside was on the lip of the right front fender like the wheel hit it and chipped the paint pretty bad. Would this might of been caused by the balljoint breaking and the car dropping? They might of fixed that side and not the other which is causing that damn creeking noise.

 

If I have to replace one of these (because I don't trust anyone with my vehicles if I can't watch them work on it) how would I go about getting that rusty nut off, and if it spins am I in trouble?

 

You guys are throwing me off... I have a nasty wobbling effect when I accelerate and after 4 trips to different mechanics who couldn't figure out what's wrong one said I have a loose ball joint. I was hoping this thread would help but, I don't have any noises like you guys describe. *Confused*

Also, I found this- http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/mm...int~parts.html
How is this install gonna cost $1k if the parts are not even $25 a piece? There is no way labor is 8-10 hours. Anyone here actually had this install done?

 

The quote I got from the dealer was $600 in parts for the ball joint and knuckle assembly (since they told me they don't sell the ball joint individually- rather with the whole knuckle assembly) and 3hrs of labor.

I think that while ball joint / knuckle assembly thing is fubar'd. You know if that link you posted to that website selling the balljoints is OEM or aftermarket?

 

oem balljoints are somewhere $70~$90 i think.

i'll try to get the OEM part number for you guys when i get back to work on monday.

it'll be cheaper on parts AND labor. they shouldn't charge you more than an hour for each side.

 

part number is :

51220-S84-A02

$39 CAD

OEM in wrapped sealed bag

tell me if you guys want some, i can have it shipped to you

 

according to the acuraoemparts.com website, it shows that the ball joint is for the 97-99 cl. so if i order that particular part number, it'll replace my stock upper ball joint? thanks

 

it's not the upper balljoint, it's the lower balljoint (instead of changing the whole knuckle)

the upper balljoint cannot be ordered separatly, it comes with the complete upper table

 

Bad CV axle? Is it making a wobble from side to side around 40~ mph or under hard acceleration?

 

I inquired today at my dealer about ball joints, both my lowers are gone also.
What he said is that for the CL the ball joint is not sold seperately, you must purchase the assembly.
But what he also said was that the ball joints are the same as on the TL and they sell seperately.

Cost 40$ Canadian.

 

so the lower ball joint is compatible with the upper ball joint?