bad ball joint?

[ChuckR]

i have a new 'knock' in the left suspension area - on compression and rebound. just put in Bilstiens, checked all hardware - every thing is tight - and have a 1 year old top bearing - seems perfectly fine. other side is fine.

1. i was missing (and still am) a cupped washer in the strut (however, didn't knock before)

2. only guess now is a bad ball joint? is there a way to check it? mine seems to be original because it still has the rivets. any thoughts?

thanks. chuck

[Guest Anonymous]

If ball joint has substantial wear, you should be able to get it to move with a pry bar or big screwdriver placed appropriately. Obviously, if you have an "original" joint that has presumably seen a lot of use/abuse your intuition may be very good.

Since you are detecting a clunk, you might consider using something like a mechanic's stethoscope or even a big long screwdriver to isolate the sound. Clunk can be many things - from a loose upper strut mount, to worn tie rods. center link, pitman arm bushings, worn/maladjusted steering gear, worn motor/trans mounts that permit the engine to hang or contact the steering parts and then there are wheel bearings or even - dare I say it, loose lug nuts/bolts.

HTH.

[ChuckR]

thanks tony. i did isolate the klunk to the strut, sorta. i checked the wheel bearing and lug nuts, all okay, and found i could make the strut, or something suspension related, sound by grabbing the rotor and pulling up and down. and it "feels, or sounds' like it's coming from the strut top or bottom - can't pinpoint.

i'll try the pry bar method to check the ball joint. chuck

[Roland]

You mentioned the cover to the top of the strut is missing. Could it be that the nut on top of the strut really isn't all that tight? I had a similar situation with the same brand of struts. In my case, I had mysterious groans - especially when turning slowly or when hitting dips in the driveway. Everything looked nice and tight and I was even concerned that the nuts were overtightened causing the bearings to "overload." Turned out both nuts were barely tightened. Torquing them properly (Can't recall recommended #, but 40 ft/lb's comes to mind) cured the noise issues.

I have to assume you did not perform the strut installation yourself. Under the circumstances, whoever did the work should have necessarily noticed the condition of the ball joints and at least had the courtesy to warn you if the joints were marginal or on the outs. Hate to be an alarmist, but this is more than just a vanity/noise issue. Your safety and possibly others depends upon it!

Good luck.

[TobyB]

I vote for the top of the strut.

But a new ball joint's only $30, so why not do it all??

t

[Guest Anonymous]

I have that too, and i just noticed that strut bolt was tight enough when, either from wear or when the PO did the struts and mounts

[InkaSteve]

Don't ignore the Ball Joints if they are original. They could pull apart like mine did. It is very scary when that happens. You have no control at all and the wheel tucks back up under the wheel well. Fortunately, I was only going about 20 MPH.