Upper ball joints
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:04 pm
Hey guys,
I have a NB8B with relatively low km's (57K) and i recently took my car to Pedders for a suspension check. They are saying that the upper ball joints need to be replaced. I took their word and got them to chase up some upper ball joints, but they struggled to find them other than genuine mazda which was probably too expensive. They never got back to me, so I went back there and inquired if they could find anything, and they asked me to source the ball joints.
After doing a bit of research online, it doesn't look like you can get just the upper ball joints as a replacement part, you need to either go second hand or buy a brand new upper control arm assembly.
So today I jacked the car up on the front axles to see if there was any play on the upper ball joints, and cannot feel any play whatsoever. I'm no mechanic so I am not 100% sure if they are shot or what test Pedders performed to determine that they are faulty, so I am going to take my car to Bob Jane tomorrow and see what they say, but yeah, I don't wan't to have to replace my ball-joints if they don't need replacing. The car has been garaged all its life, never seen the track, so its kinda weird why they would be shot.
If anyone here has replaced their upper ball joints for what ever reason;
Why did you get them replaced?
Could you feel any play in the wheels to determine that they are faulty?
Which path did you use? - service boots? - new control arm assembly? - What other options are available?
How many km's did your car have when they were deemed faulty? - Was the car drĂven hard? - Was it in a smash?
What's the best way to check if the upper ball-joints are faulty?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers,
Craig
I have a NB8B with relatively low km's (57K) and i recently took my car to Pedders for a suspension check. They are saying that the upper ball joints need to be replaced. I took their word and got them to chase up some upper ball joints, but they struggled to find them other than genuine mazda which was probably too expensive. They never got back to me, so I went back there and inquired if they could find anything, and they asked me to source the ball joints.
After doing a bit of research online, it doesn't look like you can get just the upper ball joints as a replacement part, you need to either go second hand or buy a brand new upper control arm assembly.
So today I jacked the car up on the front axles to see if there was any play on the upper ball joints, and cannot feel any play whatsoever. I'm no mechanic so I am not 100% sure if they are shot or what test Pedders performed to determine that they are faulty, so I am going to take my car to Bob Jane tomorrow and see what they say, but yeah, I don't wan't to have to replace my ball-joints if they don't need replacing. The car has been garaged all its life, never seen the track, so its kinda weird why they would be shot.
If anyone here has replaced their upper ball joints for what ever reason;
Why did you get them replaced?
Could you feel any play in the wheels to determine that they are faulty?
Which path did you use? - service boots? - new control arm assembly? - What other options are available?
How many km's did your car have when they were deemed faulty? - Was the car drĂven hard? - Was it in a smash?
What's the best way to check if the upper ball-joints are faulty?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers,
Craig