Ball joints/control arm

[roadrage]

Its my understanding that the ball joints are part of the control arm, and the entire unit must be replaced, however i see listing everywhere for just the balljoint. Is there an aftermarket arm with replaceable joints? Forgive my ignorance.

[nando]

they can be pressed out.. but standard E30 control arms are only $75, and the ball joints are around $20 each, so it's not like you'll save a lot of money after paying to have them pressed in.

[roadrage]

Thanks, and good point.

[Stu]

Hmmm...Nando, what type of machinery is needed to press them in? I might just try to replace my ball-joints and leave the arms alone, won't have to swap bushings.

[roadrage]

Take them to a local shop, generally it costs about 20 bucks to have a part pressed in/out.

[Stu]

Take them to a local shop, generally it costs about 20 bucks to have a part pressed in/out.

What sort of press is needed? We have a 40-ton press next to milling machine in our garage :?

[roadrage]

that i couldnt tell you, i havent even had the control arms off my car yet.

[Charlie]

that i couldnt tell you, i havent even had the control arms off my car yet.

With as much of a pain in the ass as it is to get the control arms off, which you will need to do to press the bushing out, you might as well cough up the 74 bucks and buy new ones.

-Charlie

[Schniddy]

Take them to a local shop, generally it costs about 20 bucks to have a part pressed in/out.

so thats for one ball joint..
Isnt there 2 balljoints on each control arm?
So you will have a shop do 4 of them at 20 bucks a piece?
I think i'll go with replacing the whole!

[nando]

I have no idea what sort of press is used, but any automotive shop should be able to do it. $20 sounds about right, that's what I was charged for my new control arm bushings. They'd probably just charge you $20 for both sets, not each.

stu, I think you could do it with that press, it's just a matter of setting it up correctly. I'm not sure how they press in exactly, but I'd imagine you press the old ones out from the bottom, and press the new ones in from the same side. shouldn't be too difficult, and yeah you wouldn't need new CABs either.

For me, I needed to have the new arms in within a couple hours so I could go to work, so driving around and waiting for the ball joints to be pressed in wasn't an option. and also I don't know of any source for the inner ix balljoints...