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Those look good but I'd worry that the aluminum conical bushings might create some NVH. The only SPL part I ever had an issue with was their endlinks. Tried adjusting them a million ways to get rid of the noise: popping, creaking, squeaking etc. and couldn't get rid of it. I even went by their headquarters (I lived in Austin at the time) and they kept making suggestions to do things I had already done so I ended up selling them.
Those look good but I'd worry that the aluminum conical bushings might create some NVH. The only SPL part I ever had an issue with was their endlinks. Tried adjusting them a million ways to get rid of the noise: popping, creaking, squeaking etc. and couldn't get rid of it. I even went by their headquarters (I lived in Austin at the time) and they kept making suggestions to do things I had already done so I ended up selling them.
Thanks for mentioning that, if the dimensions match up with the original cone - and I can get it out in one piece - I'll just use it back. I'll have to take a good look at the stuff when it arrives first though to see if I think it'll be a problem. I'm surprised though, with all the ball joints that must have been changed, there's not much info on various brands. That's why I figured I'd try something different and report back.
The MAS ball joint looks pretty good and solid. The boot has a retaining clip at the top and bottom so it'll never slip off like the other brands. The ball joint stud itself is larger than OEM so the cone could not be swapped over. Also, I'm not sure if there was a an error or something, but the MAS cone doesn't fit 100% properly. The smaller side of the cone comes out too far on the nut side of the LCA. This means if you just tighten down the supplied nut over the supplied washer, it torques down on the actual cone and not the LCA. To work around this problem I used a washer just larger than the diameter of the cone so the nut can actually fasten against the LCA and not the cone. Not ideal but it will work for now. I'll be in contact with the suppliers to see what happened....
Almost sounds like the ball joint wasn't for this exact application? Was it part number BJ61035 or BJ61035XL ??
It was the XL, correct part number according to both Rockauto and eBay listing.
And actually, it's possible the OEM cone may have worked - the MAS stud is slightly larger than OEM (OEM nut too small for MAS stud) but the tapered seat may have been the same, I never got the OEM cone off to verify if it would fit on the MAS.
Anyway, the effect of the new ball joint can be felt without a doubt. Steering is noticeably sharper and tighter. With the worn ball joint, you would have to make slight corrections mid-corner as the steering sort of shuffled between its left and right play, now it just goes where I point the steering with zero deviation and far less wander. (EDIT: The play in the steering was there, but not as bad as most cars leave the factory with - I only realised there was play after driving back to back with worn to new un-worn ball joint)
I thought people would exaggerate the effects when replacing these but the difference is clear. Totally worth doing even if they don't feel worn. I only replaced the one side because the boot was busted (for many miles) but I'll be doing the other side too just because of the improvement in feel. I doubted the wear on the ball joint because the steering still felt tight, but I didn't know it could get even better.
On a side note. The steering now tends to turn itself to full-lock once I pass 80% ish of full-lock. I'm guessing this is because of my wheel setup and suspension geometry, and that the effect was previously masked by a stiff worn out ball joint?
I also have heavy wear on the inside of my tires, and a local Infiniti dealership told me that the lower control arm bushings are broken and the arms shifted forward. This is causing the uneven wear.
I had similar inner wear on my front tires also. Noticed when started happening to new set of tires way too soon. Had tech at the body shop I worked at take the wheels off n found that the bushings in the lower control arms were shot. Replaced Both front lwr arms N the tires sat much more flat and evenly on the ground. So the inner tire wear may just b ur control arm bushings are worn out. However, noticed a popping/clicking noise after driving it a few days that not heard until replaced the control arms. When I got it back on the lift n wheels off, noticed that the lower ball joint that connects the lower spindle to the front of the lower control arm was loose and we couldn’t tighten the nut down on the top so that it was secure, bc the socket wouldn’t fit down any further. Now the popping noise has gotten louder when hit bump or brake. Reading this post looks like u have to use clamps and pry bar to compress it fully down to actually tighten it completely. Hopefully the ball joints are still ok despite driving on them for a few weeks n only have to tighten them to get rid of popping noise. Really don’t want to try n replace the ball joints. Don’t work at the shop now so can’t get tech to do it n don’t have proper tools at home to do myself. Hope it’s simple tightening n doesn’t cost much to have done. See what happens tmrw.
Yea so I just replaced both front lower control arms bc the bushings on the origs had completely worn out. I found out they were bad after noticing had inner wear on the front tires. Had a tech at the body shop I worked at replace them. When we lowered it back down on the ground u could def see how much more flat and straight the tires sat on the ground, not out n on inside edge as before. But few days later started noticing a new popping/clicking noise when hot bumps or brakes hard n didn’t fell right. Put back on lift n looked things over myself n noticed the lower ball joints between lower spindle n front of lwr control arm wasn’t very tight and we couldn’t get the top nut any tighter bc the socket or impact didn’t reach down any further to do so. Wasn’t sure if normal so replaced cotter pins n kept driving it to work. Didn’t notice any grease leaking or tears in the boots when did the work. Now noise has gotten worse n more noticeable after few weeks so came here to see what to do n see u have to clamp the joint n use pry bar to fully compress it down in order to tighten it down fully. As long as the ball joints are still good, that’s all it needs to fix them right? Only prob is no longer work at the body shop n don’t have tools to do at home. So have to take somewhere n pay to get it fixed now. Hope they’re still good n just need to tighten. Really hope won’t have to replace them n get A/M ball joints n pay someone to do it. Sucks not working at ur own body shop where u can get a tech to do it for a case of beer! Any advice of what I’ll find when I have checked out by someone in few days? I’m guessing prob need new ones n take a few hrs labor for someone to replace them?
10-25-2017, 06:53 AM
