Hey guys,

I recently attempted to replace the lower ball joints in my 07 TL-S and a friend ended up removing these bushings/spacers that fit around the ball joints so that they fit tightly into the lower control arm. Come to find out, the new ball joints do not come with these bushings and Acura says that they are not sold separately (have to replace the whole control arm w/ bushing in). The old ones are still attached to the old ball joints but they got slightly buggered up (friend used bushings as a place to air chisel out ball joints). I much rather would replace them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Doug

 

Do you mean the boots? There are no bushings between the ball joint and control arm.

Did you use a pickle fork to pop the ball joint loose? They tear up boots.

 

The ball joint goes through this bushing which sits in the control arm. I was told that these bushings are part of the control arm and often come out when removing the ball joints. Normally I guess we would remove the bushing and stick it on the new ball joint, pop it in the control arm and then throw on the castle nut.

 

from what i remember when i had mine put in, they sell the bushings and the control arms as one, Acura says that you cant remove one from the other

 

Yea that really sucks. I was really hoping someone new where I could find some. I REALLY hate sticking them back in after they took on some damage and I can't see buying new control arms right now. Would rather spend the money on something else like a cat delete. Just bought the XLR8 J pipe and now I want to throw more money into the exaust

 

This thread doesn't make sense at all, there's no bushings or spacers at the lower ball joint. Acura only sells the whole knuckle if you want to replace it, or you can press it out and go with a moog one

 

There is a bushing that the ball-joint sits in inside of the lower control arm.

It's the silver piece that presses into the LCA. The ball-joint slips through this.

If the bushing comes out attached to the ball-joint you're supposed to replace the entire LCA.

Did both of yours come out?

I had this happen to my driver's side and actually have a new LCA sitting on the floor in my room that just came in today. My passenger's side was fine when I did the passenger axle.

If you look at it from the bottom the castle nut for the lower ball-joint is just wide enough to touch the LCA and the bushing in the LCA. I think the idea is that the ball-joint can come out on it's own with the castle nut attached once the bushing pops out while servicing something in the suspension, which is why the service manual states to replace the entire LCA if the bushing comes out attached to the ball-joint.

Bushing is not sold separately.

They also sell the front lower ball-joint separately from the knuckle now as well. I know, I have one sitting in my room to put in this weekend. My front lower ball-joint got damaged when it came out of my LCA with the bushing attached.

 

Some pictures, for reference.

 

people have pressed them back in and haven't had any problems. I've never done it though.

 

thats not a bushing, bushings are soft usually like rubber. anyways, the correct term is sleeve. A lot of people on the forum, including me, have pressed the sleeve back with absolutely NO issues

 

the castle nut on the bottom is big enough that it overlaps the sleeve so theres really no way for the sleeve to come out with the proper(stock) castle nut in place

 

If we're going to get technical, the correct term is "collar". And yes, the service manual says to replace the control arm if the collar comes out...However, as mentioned before, others have pressed the collar back in with no issues.

 

You can re-press them in, as long as your friend didn't wreck them with the air chisel so they will no longer sit in the LCA properly, or hold the ball joint correctly for that matter.

 

What brand ball joint is that?

 

It's an OEM Honda balljoint.

Part Number: 51220-SDA-A02

Listed under the 'Knuckle' section if you look on one of the many OEM parts vendor sites.

 

The diagrams for 07 TL-s doesn't show the ball joint as a separate part, but I alrdy knew that. I looked up the part number you provided, it's ~$80 MSRP each which is ridiculous for a ball joint, I'd rather go with moog ones for a fraction of the price.