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Author Topic: ball joint play; control arm replacement  (Read 594 times)

Offline 55inthe54

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ball joint play; control arm replacement
« on: April 12, 2024, 04:29:19 pm »
Hi all,

The mechanic says my ball joint has play and I've Googled about this that some play is allowed (in general, not specific to my car).

Is it true that some ball joint play is allowed? How would I know how much play my specific car has (front lower right control arm)...that is, how can I determine this myself?

My car is a 2012 Infiniti FX35 with 150k km and my understanding is that the ball joint is integrated into the control arm which is why the whole arm needs to be replaced.

Thank you!
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Offline Slow_lane

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Re: ball joint play; control arm replacement
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2024, 05:57:33 pm »
Do you hear any clunking or popping when going over bumps? Sloppy steering? With your car's age and kms it is possible they are bad. If it is a mechanic you trust I would listen to his advice.

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Online PJungnitsch

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Re: ball joint play; control arm replacement
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2024, 06:06:32 pm »
I have had a mechanic tell me 'that ball joint needs to be replaced' when I've actually just replaced it. Pissed me off big time. You do need to have the recc of a mechanic you can trust

Some play is normal, just not very much. It's been a while, but from what remember you need to jack up the vehicle to get the load off the joint, and then pry it back and forth, preferably with a dial gauge measuring things

Now I have had a ball joint worn enough to separate on me while driving and that's not fun. Luckily was going pretty slow
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Offline blur911

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Re: ball joint play; control arm replacement
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2024, 06:45:55 pm »
The loosest spec for ball-joint play that I've heard of is for my motorhome, that unobtainium lower ball-joint is allowed 1/8" of play.  Most are probably half that or less.
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Offline ktm525

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Re: ball joint play; control arm replacement
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2024, 07:14:14 pm »
I had a new control arm delivered that had a new ball joint that was out of spec (play and rough feeling). It's currently sitting in my garage. Eventually I will press the ball joint in and put a good one in there.

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Offline 55inthe54

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Re: ball joint play; control arm replacement
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2024, 11:06:43 am »
Quote from: Slow_lane on April 12, 2024, 05:57:33 pm
Do you hear any clunking or popping when going over bumps? Sloppy steering? With your car's age and kms it is possible they are bad. If it is a mechanic you trust I would listen to his advice.

It's more of a squeak noise. I actually posted about this last year but they didn't identify the cause until recently.
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