Genuine Rear Upper Control Arm Ball Joint?

Jackson Bondy · Post by **Jackson Bondy** » Sat May 05, 2018 4:25 pm

Hi all,

Had to remove the castle nut from the ball joint and looks like it's been put on with too much force as the thread is shot and the cotter pins are destroyed/one with the bolt now.
So now need a new pair of ball joints, I need the bushing, bolt, castle nut and cotter pin. The Honda one in the diagram appears to be just the bushing, does anyone know if it comes with the bolt or does it have to be an aftermarket part? If so does anyone know the part number?

Cheers.

Post by **vanzep** » Sat May 05, 2018 5:05 pm

i dont think honda do the ball joints on their own - you would have to buy the whole upper wishbone assembly - the bushing you mention is the ball joint boot - honda will sell you this on its own or the diagram suggest they will.
Not to sure what bolt you are on about

plenty of aftermarket wishbones on ebay - and 4th and 5th gen rears might be interchangeable

Jackson Bondy · Post by **Jackson Bondy** » Sat May 05, 2018 5:46 pm

vanzep wrote:i dont think honda do the ball joints on their own - you would have to buy the whole upper wishbone assembly - the bushing you mention is the ball joint boot - honda will sell you this on its own or the diagram suggest they will.
Not to sure what bolt you are on about
plenty of aftermarket wishbones on ebay - and 4th and 5th gen rears might be interchangeable

Yes I suspected that might be the case and even after a discount it's still silly money for one!
Bolt is perhaps not the correct term, I simply mean the thread that goes through the ball joint boot and into the knuckle that the castle nut attaches to if that makes any more sense!
The aftermarket ball joints I have seen come as a whole unit instead of splitting it up like Honda does.

Hmm the 4WS ones are different aren't they? Being on a BB9 that makes things more of a pain but I'll have a look, was hoping to just get a ball joint for a few quid and be done with it but if it makes more sense to go for a whole new arm then so be it. Shame as mine are in good nick apart from that!

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Sat May 05, 2018 6:55 pm

Yep, Honda only sell complete upper arm (except they don't anymore anyway) or the replacement boot for the balljoint.
After market is the only option (complete arm or balljoint)
34 on that drawing is a circlip that retains it in the arm.

Jackson Bondy · Post by **Jackson Bondy** » Sat May 05, 2018 9:23 pm

wurlycorner wrote:Yep, Honda only sell complete upper arm (except they don't anymore anyway) or the replacement boot for the balljoint.
After market is the only option (complete arm or balljoint)
34 on that drawing is a circlip that retains it in the arm.

What a bummer.
After market it is then, I did some nosing and noticed you've pointed out issues with aftermarket ball joints in the past. Is it worth taking a punt on changing the ball joints or cutting my loses and getting a new pair of arms?

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Sat May 05, 2018 9:54 pm

Have I posted that?
I haven't changed ball joints on a lude before, but yes there are well known problems with cheap Chinese suspension joints lasting five minutes on all cars. Stick to decent quality brands and you should be fine

Post by **Vtecmec** » Sat May 05, 2018 9:56 pm

I've had issues with the cheap ones, now I use moog and have had no issues.

Post by **vanzep** » Sat May 05, 2018 10:04 pm

5th gens got the reinforced upper arms - they are quite a bit more expensive than the 4th gen arms.
You could probably get away with fitting 4th gen ones unless you drive like a lunatic

Ive seen the 5th gen reinforced arms new on ebay for about £90-£120 each.

You could change the ball joint but they do seem to work loose quite easily if just pressed in place but you can tack weld them on the top - thats what i have done in the past- just make sure you remove the ball joint boot before doing this. The other down side is aftermarket ones may not last that long....

Jackson Bondy · Post by **Jackson Bondy** » Mon May 07, 2018 6:41 pm

wurlycorner wrote:
Have I posted that?
I haven't changed ball joints on a lude before, but yes there are well known problems with cheap Chinese suspension joints lasting five minutes on all cars. Stick to decent quality brands and you should be fine

Maybe it was someone else and I remembered incorrectly!
Thanks for the heads up.

Vtecmec wrote:I've had issues with the cheap ones, now I use moog and have had no issues.

I've had a nose around for them but can't seem to find them in the UK, only in the US and Canada?

vanzep wrote:5th gens got the reinforced upper arms - they are quite a bit more expensive than the 4th gen arms.
You could probably get away with fitting 4th gen ones unless you drive like a lunatic
Ive seen the 5th gen reinforced arms new on ebay for about £90-£120 each.

You could change the ball joint but they do seem to work loose quite easily if just pressed in place but you can tack weld them on the top - thats what i have done in the past- just make sure you remove the ball joint boot before doing this. The other down side is aftermarket ones may not last that long....

I'll give changing the joints a go first but good to know the option is there if I make a mess of it.
Hopefully if I can hunt out some decent ones they'll last a while!

Post by **Vtecmec** » Mon May 07, 2018 7:55 pm

I get the ball joints from rockauto, buying in bulk to save shipping costs. The moog joints are actually manufactured by sankei 555, which are the OEM supplier.