jreidstl

hey guys, i'm a little new to the forum, but i was told this was the best place for info. I have a 1999 tl, and just recently found out the upper ball joint is going bad. I was told by one shop, that you have to buy the WHOLE upper control arm to replace it, but then i've been to a few other shops, that say you can replace just the ball joint. Does anyone know which one of these is true? and if so, has anyone accomplished this before? I'm a diy'er so any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!!

russianDude

Don't know about 99 TL, but on my 2001 CLS I heard the same story, but was able to replace just the ball joint itself. I had to replace lower ball joint, its like $40.... the dealer was trying to sell me the whole arm, its a scam.

Type S Zero

if you want OEM parts, you'll need the complete upper arm as you can't buy the balljoint only.

maybe in jobber replacement parts you can get the balljoint alone.

russian dude : lower ball joint is different : 3 years ago we couldn't replace only the balljoint, but honda got a part number out that was for the balljoint only. but it seems that some dealers still try to sell complete knuckle with balljoint when not on warranty. and that's a shame.

fsttyms1

Napa sells teh ball joint for like 45 bucks. Bring it to a shop and let them press the old one out and the new one in. Shouldnt be more than 30-45 min work tops!

knmcorrado

just did upper and lower bj on my 99
cost $38 each for bj and 30 each for tie rod ends (local part store)
i made my own press with some 2 in. pipe fittings and vise
it took me 3 or 4 hours(never done before) but i saved $500 labor from shop
figured if i couldn't get them out i would take them to machine shop and get them pressed in/out

fsttyms1

Took mine (the control arm) to the local shop and got charged 9 dollars to have it pressed out (have since ordered a press, and a press kit)

jreidstl

ok cool, so it seems like i can try a parts store to see if they have the ball joint and bring it to a shop and have them press it in? Is there a certain parts store i should buy the ball joint from? napa advanced etc? does anyone have the instructions on what i have to take off in order to get the upper control arm off?? thanks for all the feedback!

fsttyms1

any parts store. I found napa to have it in stock so i went with them

You have to remove the lower strut fork and remove teh shock from the tower. (very easy to do) then unbolt the upper ball joint and separate and remove the 2 bolts that hold the control arm on. Thats it. its out.

jreidstl

do i need to get a spring compressor or anything like that? because thats what a shop told me i'd have to do, but i'm thinkin that they were just trying to make some extra cash from me

fsttyms1

No you done need a spring compressor, the shock and spring will come out as one unit. Just don't remove the center bolt on the strut. Remove the 3 outer ones and the 2 on the strut brace

2Morrow

Bringing back from the dead...Great info, thanks.

MrMatt1977

Buy the whole control arm new. Doesn't cost that much an it is so easy to swap out I think Ray Charles could do it.