Ball Joints Or New Arms?

[mc teg]

Everytime I go over a bump, I hear the ball joints making this annoying clanking sound. I looked at the ball joints and the rubber seal are not ripped but certain its the ball joints. My question is would it be easier to replace the ball joints or replace the arms?

[steve2006]

Hi,

I guess you mean the upper ball joints if so they are part of the upper arms and the whole assembly will need changing,I think Arnott do the pair for around $200.00 ( or look on ebay.com) if it is the bottoms they are replaceable as an item.

[pishta]

Hi,

I guess you mean the upper ball joints if so they are part of the upper arms and the whole assembly will need changing,I think Arnott do the pair for around $200.00 ( or look on ebay.com) if it is the bottoms they are replaceable as an item.

bottoms are about 60 bucks for the pair and are easy to install. Tops are 200 and are part of the Upper control arm. Im assuming you are talking about a 89-94 LS400, the SC400 bottom ball joints are part of their arms and are not serviceable. The uppers can be tested by unbolting them from the spindle and turning the ball joint 5 times. If they maintain 15 in/lbs (ft/lbs??) tension while turning after 5 times they are still good according to Lexus (strange way to test but it is written) I would do the lowers first and see if that fixes it, its cheap and probably needs it anyway.

[mc teg]

Alright, I think I will take advice and replace the lower ball joints to see if that helps. Thank you for the help.

[ko90ls]

i would change both. look at Lexls.com for pics. If the ball joints are bad most likely your UCA'a are too. it is actually the UCA which produces the loud clunk

[new2mud]

I just replaced UCA after also doing lower ball joint and strut rod cushion.

The lower ball joint got rid of the initial "thunk" I had.

Then realized it was hiding some of the "thunk" from the UCA bushings. Easy to check UCA bushings: grab one of the arms and push/pull with both hands and listen for any kind of noise/movement. Then grab other arm (on the same UCA) and do the same. Mine had a tiny bit of play that gave an audible clunk when yanking on the rear arm of the UCA.

Replaced the UCA and now it rides and sounds good as new.

[90LS400Lexus]

My old 1990 LS400 had a terrible "clunking" sound when going over bumps. I sold it before I fixed it. So, is it the lower ball-joints that normally cause this noise? Sounds like its a fairly easy replacement. How about the UCA's? Are they costly to replace? Just wondering, for when the 91' I am buying will need them. :whistles:

[pishta]

My old 1990 LS400 had a terrible "clunking" sound when going over bumps. I sold it before I fixed it. So, is it the lower ball-joints that normally cause this noise? Sounds like its a fairly easy replacement. How about the UCA's? Are they costly to replace? Just wondering, for when the 91' I am buying will need them. :whistles:

Like they sais 200 bucks for the uppers and about 60-100 for the lower BJ's. Lowers are about 1 hours work, pretty easy, 4 bolts. Uppers need to remove the strut and that is a pain. Have not attempted yet, but it looks time consuming.

[mc teg]

Well, I replaced the lower ball joints and I can still hear the sound. However, I found the problem. It was the Tie Rod Ends. Is there any good, reputable site that sells Tie Rod Ends?

[pishta]

Well, I replaced the lower ball joints and I can still hear the sound. However, I found the problem. It was the Tie Rod Ends. Is there any good, reputable site that sells Tie Rod Ends?

Cant beat these guys, I got my lowers from them dirt cheap. Best Suspension

[pishta]

Well, I replaced the lower ball joints and I can still hear the sound. However, I found the problem. It was the Tie Rod Ends. Is there any good, reputable site that sells Tie Rod Ends?

Cant beat these guys, I got my lowers from them dirt cheap. Best Suspension

What did the symptoms act like for the tie rod ends? I get a lot of road feedback when I go over a rut in the road in a turn, like the steering wheel kinda jerks. Any idea what that could tell me? Tie rod ends seemes OK when I did the lower BJ's as far as I remember.

[new2mud]

My old 1990 LS400 had a terrible "clunking" sound when going over bumps. I sold it before I fixed it. So, is it the lower ball-joints that normally cause this noise? Sounds like its a fairly easy replacement. How about the UCA's? Are they costly to replace? Just wondering, for when the 91' I am buying will need them. :whistles:

Lower ball joints are very easy.

UCAs are very straightforward...no need for a spring compressor or special tools (other than ball joint puller), as the entire shock assembly comes out together, springs and all. Took me ~3 hours the first time, but I bet I could do the other side now in 1.5 hours. As with most other LS service items, well worth the $1000 savings over what the dealer would charge.

UCA aftermarket from Arnett run $200 for a PAIR. This is a relatively new item for them, so long-term durability has not yet been tested in the real world. However, considering the quality of their other items that are easily found on this board and others, I wouldn't put those on my car.

OEM runs about $330 each discounted. When I'm expecting 80k+ miles from them, I don't mind paying for the real deal.

[VMF]

i replaced ball joints without changing the arm, it only took like 2 hours for both sides. there is no need to change the arm unless your bushings are really bad.

[new2mud]

i replaced ball joints without changing the arm, it only took like 2 hours for both sides. there is no need to change the arm unless your bushings are really bad.

Depends on the model year--can't change only the upper balljoint without replacing the entire UCA on 1990-1994.