This car has really given me a good opportunity to learn a lot of things. This weekend's project was to replace all the bushings in the front suspension...in the process I discovered that the ball joint dust covers were shot so I decided I better replace the ball joints as well. The Haynes manual says you should replace the control arm/ball joint as an assembly, but since the assembly is $141 from MazdaTrix, and the ball joint is $45 from RockAuto.com, I decided to replace the ball joints.

This can be done on the car, but I think it's a lot easier off the car, and it really isn't difficult to remove the control arm anyway (remove sway bar end link, remove 2 bolts attaching tension rod to control arm, remove bolt through bushing on inboard end, remove two bolts through steering knuckle, remove cotter pin and castle nut from ball joint, use puller to remove ball joint from steering knuckle). After removing the arms and cleaning them up, I borrowed a ball joint press from AutoZone. You have to pay a deposit, which is actually the cost of the tool, then when you take it back you get all your money back. If you don't take it back, they don't care, since you've paid for it. They said I could keep it for up to 3 months, but I plan on having it back by this weekend.

I thought I had taken pictures of using the ball joint press to press the old ball joints out, but apparently not. I'll take some of installing the new ones. Removing them was really quite easy, but I doubt it would be so easy without an impact wrench.

I'll post more info and pictures after the new ball joints get here (hopefully by Wednesday) and I get them installed. I've attached a few pictures, one before removal, one with it partially removed, and one after removal.

Rich

 

Are you going to tack them?

 

i was going to point out that many shops tack them, and you will be VERY Pissed off with your ball joint press when it doesnt pop the ball joint, only to find you wasted an hour trying to press a welded ball joint.. just something to keep in mind.

im not sure if tacking is nessicery, but it takes 10 seconds to cut with an angle grinder and it offers a 10 year guarantee that your BJ's wont creep out (though i personally dont know how they would...)

your call.

 

Tacking them really is a must for safety. Pressing out the old ones tends to distort the holes a bit and the fit is never the same as oem. I was suprised how much the rolled flange moved when I pressed out my first set in a 12 ton press. That convinced me that tacking is the best option. That's why replacing the entire arm is recommended. The joints can't actually come out, but they can loosen, then your back where you started.

There is a brand of joint out there that has snap ring retainers, but I tack those too.

 

P-S-T has clips, I have them in my FB. However I did not tack them in. I feel comfy with the clip, but if I have my suspension apart now that I have a welder I'll give 'em a couple of tacks.

 

The new ball joints arrived today, so tonight I put them in and installed the control arms on the car.

Here's a new one next to an old one.


First I started the new one into the hole by lining it up straight, and lightly tapping on the edges with a hammer. It's important to make sure it gets started straight. Then I put the ball joint press on and hand tightened it, making sure the adapters were straight and centered.



Then I hit it with the impact wrench, first with it turned down as low as it would go, and gradually increasing it, so I could keep an eye on it and make sure it was still going in straight, until it seated completely.





Then it was time to reinstall the control arms. I started by inserting the ball joint into the steering knuckle and installing the castle nut. Then I torqued the nut and installed the cotter pin.


Then the steering knuckle is reattached to the bottom of the shock with two bolts (torqued, of course). One is longer than the other...it goes toward the rear of the car.


Finally, the other end of the control arm is reattached to the crossmember with a bolt through the bushing, torqued appropriately.


All the previous pictures were on the passenger side of the car. Here's the finished product on the driver's side.


Tomorrow night I'll reinstall the sway bar and tension rods, then it'll be time to see how bad I messed up the alignment...and what to do about it.

 

I noticed you didn't tack the joints, any reason why not?

Good write up. I've never used one of those ball joint tools, just the 12 ton press and appropriate sockets.

I smell archive.

 

What bushings did you use? Are they urethane?

On that thought, has anyone had any experience with the bushing kit available on EBay? I believe the brand name is "Mako Performance"? What is the most popular bushing upgrade available for the FB?

 

No, I didn't tack them. I talked to a good friend of mine that has been doing car work as long as I've known him...over 20 years. He does all the work I can't or don't want to do on my cars, and I trust him completely. He told me he's never tacked them. They are almost always under tension, and are a tight fit. No offense to anyone on here that said otherwise...it's just that I know this guy personally and know he knows his stuff. Besides, I don't weld.

I got my bushings from forum member bwaits (ReSpeed), and they are "Energy" brand, I think, and yes, they are polyurethane.

Rich

 

No offense to you or your friend but sometimes they press in tightly and sometimes they don't depending on if they've been changed previously. Welding is good insurance and sometimes its absolutely necessary.

 

Tack them. Rx7doctor

 

WHat about using Loctite during the installation, rather than tack welding later?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only time they would be under tension is if you are going through a corner and the anti-sway bar is pushing downwards on the control arm. Otherwise, they are subjected to lateral forces acting perpendicular to the axis of the ball-joint taped shaft. Personally I wouldn't weld the ball joint to the control arm, because they will eventually need to be replaced again many years down the road when finding another control arm may be difficult. I think using a clip to retain them is the best bet. If you can't find the specific brand that comes with a clip, take the ball joints to a machine shop and have them machine a groove into the cirumference of the body of the joint, and then fit a proper sized c-clip into that groove. It shouldn't cost that much money to do the modification.

 

I'm not tacking them...sorry.

 

I wouldn't tack them either. Are you going to see about getting a groove machined into them like I suggested? That would assure you that they could never break themselves lose.

 

No, I'm going to trust my mechanic...he's never steered me wrong before. I really appreciate all the help I get on this forum, so I hope nobody thinks I'm saying they don't know what they're talking about...because I'm not. But I don't know anyone on here personally, and I do know my mechanic personally. I trust his judgement.

That having been said, if I had a welder and knew how to use it, I'd have probably tacked them, just to be sure. But I don't have a welder and don't know how to weld.

Rich

 

ha ha ..steered you wrong... ball joint...get it???

 

Rich,
Nice write-up. It sounds like you have made the decision not to tack weld your ball-joints. In the years that I have owned my four 1st gens, I have replaced 6 sets of ball-joints. Before I figured it out, I had to re-insert and tack weld 2 of those sets because they both worked themselves loose. After tacking those, and the following four sets, I have never had a problem with them coming loose. I finally learned this from my Mazda mechanic brother-in-law. I just tack them on each side and they're good to go. I have also used the ball-joints with the locking clips and they work very well. I just try to avoid as much as possible, any potential problem that might come up and bite me in the ***, especially if I'm on a trip too far from my own garage, that I might have to pay someone else to fix.
Rich.

 

Well, atleast go ahead and wrap them in duct tape, lol.

 

Does anyone know the brand name of the ball-joints that come with the clip, and where they can be purchased?

 

Just thought i would add my complete suspension was re done last year with ALL new bushes (red plastik lookin) koni shocks and king springs- so went and looked at mine after reading this ,and she isn't welded either. i'm keen on getting a groove and clip job done asap!

 

www.p-s-t.com

I recently purchased their complete front end kit, but I haven't begun installation quite yet. All of the parts look pretty good, but won't know for sure until I finish installation. Good prices, good looking pieces, and fast delivery is about all I can say so far.

 

OK...got it all back together and took it for a test drive. Seems solid enough, but still vibrates badly around 45 mph. Could be wheel balance, but it's worse than poor wheel balance usually causes. Tomorrow I'll check the preload on the front wheel bearings...maybe I didn't get them tight enough. If that's not it, I'll have to break down and get the front wheels balanced and see what happens.

I also have to adjust the front end now....it pulls to the right. I think this is because I adjusted the tension rods according to the manual instead of putting them back the way they were ( https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/whats-wrong-these-pictures-500104/ ). I couldn't see anything bent, so I think this is the right thing to do.

I'll keep a close eye on the ball joints. I only have 250 miles on the engine break-in, so I'll just be taking short trips around town for the next couple of months and I'll make it a point to check them regularly.

Rich

 

Here's an update on the ball joints. I now have about 400 miles on them since I replaced them. So far, no signs of loosening. I'll keep a close eye on them for the next couple thousand miles and report results.

Rich

 

I just went through redoing my suspension not long ago, and now I have to do it all over again because a friend wrecked my fb! and AH HH, those two bolts that connect the steering knuckle, along with the control arm bolt on the crossmember were HORRIBLE to get off. I ended up buying a torch to get them all off and it took so long. Would a shop be able to take them off a lot easier or would they just use the same method?

btw, thats a good step by step for anyone whos doing this. good job.