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I went through the video and I don't feel the grinding would affect structural integrity but am not that experienced with the effects of machining an aluminum arm. Street driven car so it won't take extreme stress like a track vehicle. Anyone actually try these?
Getting the front driver's side lower control arm is pretty much unobtanium now, even from Japan.
Updating this thread for future peeps. The install was super easy. Being that the control arms are aluminum, grinding and finishing are quick. I was initially worried about not planing the surface perfectly with the hand tools at my disposal, however the joints sit on a lip within the arm that are untouched by grinding. In addition the factory bore for the balljoints take the pressure under driving rather than the face. The ball joints from CCFablab pressed in nice and snug. I have had them on the car for around 3 weeks now and no complaints. I swapped them out along with swapping old Flex Zs for new ones and the car handles dreamily now. The little front left play I was experiencing is gone. Zerk fitting on the new ball joints makes for easy maintenance. Any question feel free to post up.
Getting ready Rubber boot off
After cleaning grinding off the old ball joint
End cap removed; joints pop out pretty easy little persuasion needed.
Top arms are still available aftermarket, OEM quality and good prices. I swapped mine out for new ones. I'd say that top one doesn't seem to take the pressure like the lowers, but could be an issue in the future when arms run out.
I tried to press in these ball joints last night and tonight with no success. I cannot get them to press in straight, the threads always catch the side and start angling the ball joint until it just seizes. First I added grease to the ball joint body, then I froze them for 24 hours and heated up the arm (although I don't believe I heated the arm long enough). Then I greased the inside of the arm and tried to press in the frozen ball joint. Nothing has worked so far. I'm using a bearing press. Maybe I should try using the C clamp you used.
I tried to press in these ball joints last night and tonight with no success. I cannot get them to press in straight, the threads always catch the side and start angling the ball joint until it just seizes. First I added grease to the ball joint body, then I froze them for 24 hours and heated up the arm (although I don't believe I heated the arm long enough). Then I greased the inside of the arm and tried to press in the frozen ball joint. Nothing has worked so far. I'm using a bearing press. Maybe I should try using the C clamp you used.
Got the email notification for this. Strange, I had little experience with pressing in joints but had zero issues on that front. Maybe the press you are using is not pushing evenly is all I can think of. It was quite easy; about the same difficulty as the pillowballs in the rear arms.
I tried to press in these ball joints last night and tonight with no success. I cannot get them to press in straight, the threads always catch the side and start angling the ball joint until it just seizes. First I added grease to the ball joint body, then I froze them for 24 hours and heated up the arm (although I don't believe I heated the arm long enough). Then I greased the inside of the arm and tried to press in the frozen ball joint. Nothing has worked so far. I'm using a bearing press. Maybe I should try using the C clamp you used.
Heating the weakest part of a modified cast aluminum control arm sounds like a bad idea.
Ask the manufacturer why it might not be going in.
Any burrs on the inside edge of the arm?
I might try putting the ball joint on the work table and pressing the arm down onto it, instead of the other way around, since that might let you control the angle of contact better.
Surprised you were able to actually buy these, since it's not clear to me if the company is actually in business...
Last edited by Valkyrie; May 20, 2024 at 08:12 PM.
How is it not clear? Have you tried placing an order and they didnt ship?
i placed an order for these ball joints and less than a week later they were here. I spoke to Dana on the phone, Ray Crowe had recommended him to me and everything went smooth
How is it not clear? Have you tried placing an order and they didnt ship?
i placed an order for these ball joints and less than a week later they were here. I spoke to Dana on the phone, Ray Crowe had recommended him to me and everything went smooth
The website doesn't work, and they haven't posted anything on social media in months.
Got the email notification for this. Strange, I had little experience with pressing in joints but had zero issues on that front. Maybe the press you are using is not pushing evenly is all I can think of. It was quite easy; about the same difficulty as the pillowballs in the rear arms.
I rented a ball joint install kit (similar to what you used) but it wasn't any easier with that considering I couldn't get enough force on it to turn it, so I went back to the press and got them both installed. The first one started going crooked again with the install kit, and I knocked it straight with a plastic mallet, and after that the press pushed it right in. The second one started going crooked and I didn't realize it, but it eventually pushed through, although it took a chunk out of the top of the opening once it punched through. Not really enough to worry about though.
Originally Posted by Valkyrie
Heating the weakest part of a modified cast aluminum control arm sounds like a bad idea.
Ask the manufacturer why it might not be going in.
Any burrs on the inside edge of the arm?
I might try putting the ball joint on the work table and pressing the arm down onto it, instead of the other way around, since that might let you control the angle of contact better.
Surprised you were able to actually buy these, since it's not clear to me if the company is actually in business...
The instructions suggest to heat up the arm to be able to practically drop the ball joint in, but I understand the hesitation.
No burrs. I even chamfered the edges on both sides. And when the joint went in crooked and the threads embedded in the aluminum, I smoothed it out with a dremel and soft sanding bit.
I rented a ball joint install kit (similar to what you used) but it wasn't any easier with that considering I couldn't get enough force on it to turn it, so I went back to the press and got them both installed. The first one started going crooked again with the install kit, and I knocked it straight with a plastic mallet, and after that the press pushed it right in. The second one started going crooked and I didn't realize it, but it eventually pushed through, although it took a chunk out of the top of the opening once it punched through. Not really enough to worry about though.
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Congrats! At least it got done. Are your arms painted? I'm almost wondering if that was done after removing the old joint, and the inner part had a layer of paint on it. That would definitely throw a curveball.
After you install them, could you let me know how they work out for you drive wise?
They are powder coated with clear but it wasn't anywhere I was trying to press the ball joint in. I had ground down that whole area.
Yeah I'll post up. I'd really like to see an option for the upper arms as well, as I need those too and I don't really want to replace the whole arm. I emailed Dana and Howe Racing about it but haven't heard back from either of them. The uppers aren't too bad right now, and the lowers weren't really that bad either, but I wanted to at least change what I could while the car was in the air.
They are powder coated with clear but it wasn't anywhere I was trying to press the ball joint in. I had ground down that whole area.
Yeah I'll post up. I'd really like to see an option for the upper arms as well, as I need those too and I don't really want to replace the whole arm. I emailed Dana and Howe Racing about it but haven't heard back from either of them. The uppers aren't too bad right now, and the lowers weren't really that bad either, but I wanted to at least change what I could while the car was in the air.
Cool. I believe I replaced the upper arms as they were available and reasonably priced from RA. They are identical to the OE ones, so I imagine the casting etc was contracted out. The old ones were in decent shape compared to the lowers despite the 120K + miles on them.
I would just replace the arms altogether but they're already clear coated also and with SuperPro bushings. Although I'm gonna have to re-clear the bottom arms again since they're all marked up from an errant cutting wheel several times lol.
