OK, the short story is this, I first replaced my springs, with a 2.5 and 2.25 drop front and rear. I liked the drop, but the shocks/struts were bottomed out (harsh ride, no rebound-lots of bounce). I bought lowered shocks/struts and the ride was much better but my factory bellows were smashed and some of my factory front strut caps were stripping out. The lowered shocks/struts ended up lowering my ride another 3/4" or so. I bought KYB strut top replacements and bellows and installed them, ride is butter smooth now, even though it is about 3.25" lowered in the front. I am now , However; getting a clucking noise on hard bumps in the front, and I noticed when I was replacing the parts this weekend that the steering ball joints are squished and leaking grease. I am thinking of replacing the upper A arms and ball joints and the lower ball joints with Moog parts. Do any of you have experience with this and what would you recommend. The parts are original now, so the extreme drop have definitely killed them, and I am looking for an aftermarket set that can handle the lowered additional pressure. Here is a pic of the ride after all the parts were installed this weekend. Thanks in advance for your help, I want to replace these parts ASAP (possibly next weekend)...

 

call our sponsoring vendors (see their post or in vendor list for phone #)
mrheeltoe or excelerate- those are both suspension gurus, get the right answer and the right part

 

While I appreciate the "use our sponsors", I used them for my headlights without great results. Besides, it doesn't really address my issue. I am looking to do the upper and lower ball joints, and while doing my research, the lower joints require I pretty much strip the suspension down COMPLETELY. So I figure, I only want to have to do that once. I am now thinking of replacing the bearings at the same time, and all of the other wearable components. It will have a basically brand new suspension when I am finished, but I do have one more question, for those than may actually have some useful info. I was thinking about replacing my axels also. They are not giving me any issues whatsoever, but they are just a few hundred dollars, and since I will have them pretty much ready to just be pulled out with a fork, I thought it may be a good time to replace them also, sort of guaranteeing that I have now replaced everything that could fail, and insure myself at least a few years of no issues with my front end. Thoughts? (thanks in advance anyone who can help me in my quest here...)

 

the people I referred you to are very hands on knowledge of suspension- dropped slammed or simply lowered cars and what wears out, Josh- excelerate or Marcus Mrheeltoe are happy to talk cars- from a racers understanding~
They will tell you whats the right maker for your specific needs.

Moog is normally a good upgrade BUT when it comes to the parts you need- there are better- competition quality parts

I guarantee the new angle on the steering knuckles and the axles will wear them out in short order, That's the cost of scraping pavement~

get NEW axles from NAPA for no hassles

 

Your axles will be fine and will be good for a long time especially at that height, and I doubt that you race the car to put a lot of stress on them. I haven't replaced mine, they are still in great condition, and I am over 225k

 

My car is at stock ride height and I can tell you first hand that my experience with Moog suspension components for this car has been a disaster. While doing the AV6 swap, I had the same mindset as you and said to myself that while everything is apart, I might as well refresh the front suspension.

So, out went the original UCAs and Moog Problem Solver UCAs got installed. Out went the original lower ball joints and Moog Problem Solver ones went in. With only 85K miles on the clock, I decided to leave the bearings and axles alone for the time being. The bushings in the Moog UCAs started binding up and popping almost right from the start, so they got quickly tossed in the trash and new OEM UCAs went in. About 6K miles later, the driver's side lower ball joint failed, luckily while I was pulling out of a parking spot, due to having absolutely no grease inside. That ruined the axle, so I decided to replace both sides and while everything was apart again, I bought a set of Timken bearings and had them pressed in.

The only Moog suspension components that are still on my car are the front and rear sway bar end links. I figure that if they should go bad for some reason, at least that won't cause me to lose control of the car and/or do some expensive damage in the process.

The lower ball joints that are on the car now are AC Delco ones and they have held up perfectly.

Unfortunately, after that whole mess with the Moog parts, I will not buy another critical suspension item from them.

 

This is great information. I want to upgrade the parts to better handle the new altitude, I will make some calls...thanks

 

Hi there,

Couple things, car looks great

The lowered height should not be causing problems with the ball joints OR the axles. Many people will tell you this, and it seems logical, but we've not found it to be true in any shape or form.

The first thing I would check is for evidence of your upper control arms hitted the inside of the shock tower. This can happen on some Acuras with extreme lowering.

Next, yes if there are leaks from the ball joints that means dirt can be getting in, and that can wear the joint. We generally recommend replacing with new factory parts, but MOOG has been a good replacement brand for many Acura owners. We'd support that. Also look at tie rod ends.

 

so its not being lowered that causes the axle and balljoint problems??

its really the burnouts and potholes/curb shots making a mess of the bendable parts? huh- who woulda thunk