240sx ball joints

[DavidM]

Me again. I'm going through my list to prep the car for the Road Atlanta race later this month. I put on the list to replace the control arm ball joints since I have no idea how old they are and the boots for the front ones are ripped up pretty badly. I got some Moog replacements and the loan-a-tool ball joint press from Autozone.

I was looking at the joints last night figuring out in my head how this was going to work. Turns out the left front ball joint has been welded into the control arm?!? Not just a little tack weld either. I'm wondering why? Does this indicate that the ball joint was sliding in the control arm? Is this common practice? The right front one was not welded and neither were the rears.

Are ball joints something I should worry about as wear items? I was concerned because the boots are ripped. I could probably just replace the boot if I don't need to worry about the joint itself.

The tool I got from Autozone doesn't seem to have a good sized cylinder for the front control arm either. The one that is big enough for the joint barely fits on the arm and is not flush. I'll see how it works.

I did manage to figure out a wiring issues yesterday. At least I fixed one thing....

David

[erlrich]

I don't think they're a huge concern on these cars, but I did replace both front joints a year or two ago just because, as you noted, I had no idea how old they were. I remember having to press both of them out (isn't there also a snap ring holding each one in?), so it is kind of puzzling that one was welded in. Sounds like you might have to pick up another control arm? Oh, and I think I just used a couple of sockets and a BFH to tap them out/in. That was before I had the press....

I also got one to try on the rear - as I'm sure you know there is no aftermarket listing (or OEM if I recall correctly) for rear ball joints on our cars, but I did find a few places where people have stated the ones from a B13 will work on the rear the 240. I bought one (confidence is not that high), and if it works I'll replace the other.

[DavidM]

I got the Sentra ones for the rear as well. The rears don't look as bad as the fronts, but I figured I'd replace them while I was doing the fronts. I found a posting where someone measured the Sentra ones compared to the originals and there was something like .1mm difference so they should fit fine.

The front joints have been replaced at least once as they have the grease fittings on them. There is a circlip that goes around the top, but I guess if the hole is loose the the joint could move some. I have spare control arms, but of course they aren't setup for the spherical bearing. I'd have to get that done. Likely isn't going to happen in the next couple weeks. I could try to grind down the welds to press this one out and then have it re-welded after the new is in, but I'm not sure I could grind the welds without damaging the control arm.

Always something.

David

[Tristan Smith]

Grind them out or get a new knuckle. The last thing you want is a ball joint issue at the track and not be able to fix it.

You don't need to press them. Take a hammer and hit the knuckle perpendicular to the ball joint. It should pop out.

[Matt93SE]

I had one ball joint come loose on the wife's Altima a few years ago and had to weld it in place. still on the 130k mile old OEM ones on my S14 though. They hold up pretty good all things considered.

If it were me, I'd go ahead and try to grind the old one out and replace it. if that fails, you have a spare arm and can press the spherical into it if you have to.

[CRallo]

a tack weld is common... if they welded the whole thing, they may have bougered the LCA changing the ball joint.

and Tristan, the press they are referring to is for swapping the ball joint in and out of the control arm, not for popping it loose from the knuckle...