Lower Ball Joints and Brakes

Joeb6812

Joeb6812

Registered
I went to the tire shop today and had 2 of the right side wheels replaced and while I was there, I had them check the front end. I have been having a noise issue when turning the wheel while stopped. I figured it was the lower ball joints being dry and I was right. I'm gonna replace the complete lower control arms in the near future and also the front brakes. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the bushing that is approximately mid way down the lower control arm. I believe it's called a torsion bar bushing? I want to replace them too while I'm there.

Now for the brakes. What brand is the best for a lot of stop and go driving? It is rare that I get off island with this car and almost never get over 50mph. When I do, the car feels like it's gonna shake out of my hands. I have a lot of pulsation and pulling when I stop. I'm sure it's attributed to the wasted lower ball joints, but I need some brakes that wont pulsate after I put all the work/money into this car.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.
 
The bushings are called strut rod bushings, control arm side.
Do the state police drive 'vetts on the island??
 
Pulsation is due to warped rotors.

As for pads, you might like ceramic. They will resist fade in stop-and-go traffic.
 
The shaking part is common problem, that will be corrected with new rotors and pads. This is a project worth doing right as I am sure getting parts and stuff over there is not easy or cheap.
1. Rotors and pads I would recommend Bendix with their Ceramix pads.
2. Replace brake fluid (I like Super Blue for color contrast when bleeding).
3. Do proper break in technique on pads and rotors (see articles on several high speed stops).
4. If you are going to do your lower control arms and strut rod bushings (unless they have been already done) you should also replace your upper control arms, sway bar links, and check the tie rod ends and replace if necessary. I would use only TRW/Moog components here.
5. Get a complete 4 wheel alignment done afterwards.

If you have a set of jack stands and tools this is all do-able at home. Be sure to get PB Blaster to help loosen up some of the bolts. Yours probably will be a challenge because of where you live, and maybe for those reasons you may want a professional do the work because of the grunt involved.

When it's all done you will see that the car will drive and stop like new, as it should. I've gotten all my parts for these projects from Advance Auto as they had good pricing and are close by, but I know also that Rock Auto has some decent pricing for some of this stuff also. Note that on the lower control arms the Mark Vlll and the T'Bird share the same arms so spec the T'Bird as it is cheaper (arms only). The T'Bird uppers do not have the ball for attaching the ride sensors so you need the Mark Vlll's unless you are on Coils or are willing to weld the attachment balls from your old onto the new.

Be sure to follow factory specs on tightening the strut rod bushings, as there have been many failures do to over tightening. They are only supposed to see 110 FT/LBS !
Also be sure that you get a good alignment shop that can do 4 whell alignment and knows that you must set camber, caster, and then toe in that order as they are inter-related.
 
Figured I'd ask here instead of starting a new topic...

I've got driver and passenger side front upper and lower control arms, still sitting in the boxes just in case, as back up. I'm starting to get a noise from the driver side, but I'm not sure what to look for to tell if it's upper or lower control arms. Weird thing is, I had this same problem almost exactly a year ago. The guy just replaced the lower ball joint, not the whole control arm; don't ask me why, this was before I started to work on my own cars as often as possible. haha

Also, is there a trick to taking off the driver-side upper control arm? I was looking at it a while ago (all four of the front control arms, actually) just to get an idea of what I might be getting in to eventually, and I couldn't get to the bolts for the driver-side upper to save my life (the ones in the engine bay). Is there a trick to getting to this, or do I have to take out the master cylinder or something?

So basically, in short, what do I look for to know which control arm on the driver side is going bad? And for future reference, how the **** do I take out the driver-side upper?? haha I'd appreciate y'all helping me out here cause I really don't want to have to take it to a shop... money's VERY tight right now for me.
 
One thing to look at on the uppers is if the boots are cracked they're toast. The common test is as in all ball joints is to feel for excess play in the joints.

Don't forget that you should also replace you strut rod bushings (complete), and your stabilizer bar links.

To remoove the bolt from the upper control arm on the drivers side you will find an acces hole once you pull down the inner fender well. I merely enlarged it and put edge gaurd on it and used a socket with flex and extension. There are some pics if you search around of some of these areas. PB Blaster is your friend.
 
The access hole is already there? I'm wondering because I was just searching through some other posts (probably should've done this in the first place... haha) and unity said "you can do what I did and cut an access opening". Since I've got all four control arms lying around, I'd prefer to replace all of them in one fell swoop than to just replace the one necessary. I mean, it's bound to be the problem because the squeak just SCREAMS "ball joint!"
 
Yeah, the driver's side upper control arm bolt nearer the firewall is a pain. You can get an offset ratcheting wrench on it and loosen it with the "one-click-at-a-time" method. If I had to do it again I'd probably drop the strut out, knocked off the bolt retaining flag and took it out from inside the wheel well using a back-up wrench on the firewall side, it might have gone quicker. It definitely would have made torquing the new bolts a lot easier. If you're replacing the lowers the lower strut bolt is going to have to come out anyway so dropping it completely out wouldn't be that much more work.
 
Ah, I knew I could depend on you guys to steer me in the right direction. I'm gonna order the ceramic pads tonight and the good rotors. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the Moog lower control arms at this time and besides, I probably wont have this car over a year longer. I'm gonna go with the Mevotech brand lower control arms for now. I also have a pulling problem, will I need to replace the calipers as well? Or mabey it's caused by the lower ball joints?

I just want to clarify, the large bushing that has a big nut that faces the rear of the car is called the strut rod bushing? I thought the strut rod bushing was the one at the botton of the strut with the bolt running through it?

I replaced the upper control arms approximately 6 months ago along with the 4 wheel coil spring conversion kit.

I was'nt going to but, I guess I will also replace the sway bar bushings and links. You really think it's nessicary?

Thank you for all your help,
Joe B

P.S. the MSP does not have any Corvette's on the island but they do have a couple Chargers. The police out here pretty much still stick with the Crown Vic's. That's what I prefer at least.:cool:
 
Oh, I forgot to ask. You said the lower control arms are the same as a T-Bird? What year T-Bird? Will a 1997 lower control arm for a T-Bird work? I looked at the price for the T-Bird and it is a huge difference! I can buy the Moog arms for less than the Mevotech ones if I use T-Bird stuff! They certainly look the same in the pictures. Just want to make sure before I buy the stuff. Thanks again.
 
i paid $55 each for my lower control arms, the mark viii ones, not t-bird. do you have an advance auto parts on the island?
 
LincTudor said:
Yeah, the driver's side upper control arm bolt nearer the firewall is a pain. You can get an offset ratcheting wrench on it and loosen it with the "one-click-at-a-time" method. If I had to do it again I'd probably drop the strut out, knocked off the bolt retaining flag and took it out from inside the wheel well using a back-up wrench on the firewall side, it might have gone quicker. It definitely would have made torquing the new bolts a lot easier. If you're replacing the lowers the lower strut bolt is going to have to come out anyway so dropping it completely out wouldn't be that much more work.
Click to expand...

I've done the "one click at a time" and inner fender access hole methods; both are a royal pain. Even though it seems like more work, removing the strut makes the job MUCH easier. The trickiest part (which is still easy) is removing the solenoid to let the air out. Remove the electrical connector, disconnect the air line (push up on the collar while pulling down on the line), then twist it counterclockwise. The air pressure will pop it out, but there's a stop that prevents it from flying off.

Once the strut is out of the way, all you have to do is slip a box-end wrench over the firewall side and pull off the retaining tab with a set of pliers.
 
Use the 97 T'Bird Lowers, and get both strut rod bushing kits and the sway bar links, as you need to get them seperated from the lower control arm any ways.
 
On the uppers, just use an impact gun on the bolt and put an 18MM wrench down between the master cylinder and the fenderwell to hold the nut.

I was able to do both of my uppers this way, 45 minutes a side.

Also, when you do the strut rod bushings, you'll need to trim the metal sleeves.
 
I ordered all the stuff needed to repair the front end noise and the brake pulsation from Rock Auto. I got Moog lower control arms, strut rod bushing kit, and sway bar links for a 97 T-Bird. I ordered Raybestos Ceramic pads and Centric brand front rotors. All this for a grand total of 360.00 shipped. I hope this takes care of my issues for a while.

To the question about a parts store on the island, the answer is yes. But the owner and I don't get along because of a stupid parking ticket. He tries to charge me full list for any little part I attempt to buy! I kinda have to go online.

Again, thanks for the advice.
 
The kits are defined as outside, and inner. Inside each kit are the components for drivers side and passenger side.

2 kits required total.
 
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