Guys I drove 50 miles back home today and nothing happened but once I got to my apartment and was making a left turn into the parking lot over a ramp at about 5mph the front upper control arm joint came off. I heard clicking noises from the front suspension when I turned my wheel at slow speed while parking but dismissed it as nothing but I guess now I know it isnt. Attached are links to some pictures I've taken of my wheel. My question is how hard is it to replace the upper control arm, do I need special tools? Does anybody have one for sale?

http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus3.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus4.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus5.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus6.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus7.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/track/9844/sus8.jpg

 

Holy crap...

As far as replacing the upper control arm...it's not rocket science..but it does involve a fair amount of muscle.

Check out the RX-7 User Manual..section R - Suspension for a detailed explanation of breakdown of the parts.

www.iluvmyrx7.com

 

in case the pictures on the link above didn't work here's another link:

http://photos.yahoo.com/turborl7

 

you broke the upper ball joint. its not a big deal to fix

 

be thankful that didn't happen at high speeds

 

Did it really break or did it just come out of the upright? It is hard to tell from the pics. The shaft part look like it might be okay, but then maybe not since it looks like part of it might be stuck in the upright. Is there a piece of it left in the upright?

The upper arms are not too difficult to replace. You have to undo everything but the ball joint when you replace the shocks or springs, so replacing the upper arm should not be any more difficult than replacing a shock.

I'm glad it happened at low speed. That could have been very bad if you were going fast. Glad you and the car are (mostly) okay!

-Max

 

Can you elaborate on the noise you heard? I have a clicking when i turn right, more noticeable at slow speeds, i wonder if it's the same thing?

Is there any way to check the control arm, loose bolts etc?

 

Well I'm very thankful because I just came back from a 50mile trip average speed 80mph on a highway and this happened as I was turning into my parking lot, in fact I was fortunate enough to get it into my parking spot before the wheel popped out.

The joint bolt is bent along with a ripped bushing so it did just pop out but unfortunately the joint got bent so I have to replace the upper control arm. I still have no idea why it popped out. All I know if I've heard clicking noises on the front suspension while turning hard left or right mostly when parking my car or at speeds close to that of 2-5mph. Everything else in the suspension seems to be fine.

Take your wheel off and you'll be able to see the upper links to check if there's any play between the joints. I have no idea why mine came apart like that so becareful. I'm very thankful this happened at slow speeds in my parking lot and not while I was on a busy highway doing 80 I could've really been seriously screwed.

 

No there's no pieces actually broke, just that the controlarm with the bushing attached to it is bent and the bushing is punctured slightly. The controlarm joint looked like it just lifted up.

 

i was wrong it didn't break the ball joing just everything else is bent now

 

The seal around the ball joint probably tore. This allows dirt or whatever to get in and wear the joint. The ball joint can also act like a pump in some cases and pump all the grease out. Over time the ball or the part it fits into wears out enough to allow it to pop out.

 

This is interesting... I seem remember about 3 other threads in the past few months about people having their balljoints just break all of a sudden, during very low speed driving.

 

Nice color. Is that IBM?

 

I had a clicking noise and a rusty spring noise one time. it was just lose lugnuts not tightened all the way.

 

good thing you weren't going fast.

 

Have you had the upper control arm a-part prier to this incident? I'm not pointing fingers because I can only see what the picture says but it looks like there is anti-seize on the ball joint and that area is not to have any grease on it. It is to be a metal-to-metal contact to keep from coming apart like that.

 

There is no anti-freeze on that area.

 

Read it again, he said anti-seize (compound). Like what you put on your spark plug threads (if you don't use oil)

 

Might I also you replace the brake line on that side also. Having it pulled taught like that could have damaged the connector.
This kind of failure is pretty scary. To echo others glad to hear it was only at low speed.
Regards,
Crispy