DBOGGSRX7

Are the Ball joints in an 81 gsl replaceable, or do you have to replace the entire lower control arm??

dennis

ChasRX

I had to replace my entire control arm; although, I'd bet that there is a shortcut available.

Rx7carl

You can replace the ball joints. You need a hyd press. And some guys tack weld a couple of spots for saftey. Ive done it. You just gotta be careful not to bend or damage the stamped steel arm when pressing the ball joint out/in.

DBOGGSRX7

You guys are fast...
I think I will just replace the arms, but I will get a couple more miles out of the old ones first.

Rotortuner

Ya, we replaced my freinds with whole new lower arms. I think they were about 80 each from mazda on my maotorsports discount. replace the inner control arm bushing with urethane while your in there too.

CJG

82transam

iTrader: (18)

yea if I were you I'd replace the whole arm. I had my ball joints changed and I guess the hole in the arm had streched a bit or something cause they both ended up coming out on me. I ended up welding them back in, but plan to replace the arms soon.

rotor vs. piston

I did mine with the Ball Joints that come with the PST kit. They come with a snap ring so they can not come out. The original BJ's were a bit*h to get out though. I'd still just buy the pst kit and do it with the BJ's that come with them. If you know a military person have them take you to the hobby shop and take care of busness.

RX744CSP

iTrader: (4)

I did them on my '79 autocrosser, and I used a real honest ball joint removal tool. Worked like a champ, and saved me the cost of control arms.

The balljoint remover looks like a really big C clamp, a lot of guys that work on 4x4's will have one. Doing this in a press makes it easy to get the joint misaligned when pressing it out, and that's what screws up the control arm.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

rx7carl is correct, if you replace just the bj's, have them tack welded in place or they will come out. rx7doctor

bouis

I replcaced mine recently. Pass was functional, drivers was shot. Neither had any boots to speak of. Took the control arms to a shop and let them do the pressing. Cost me about $110 for the whole thing, including the $40 shop charge. No tack welds but they haven't come loose either.

When I do a 13b swap (and put in a GSL-SE subframe, around Thanksgiving or Christmas) I'll check the ball joints, but so far they're giving me no problems.

Rx7carl

Mine havent come loose either and werent tack welded. I check them after every session. Dont want one comming loose on the track. I think it depends on the individual arm mfg tolerances. If it goes in easy then its probably a good candidate for some tack welds if theres no snap ring on it.

bouis

I don't think that mine are coming loose either. There was no play, nor any gap or deformed metal I could see. It looked pretty sturdy.