Front knuckle ball joint replacement. Whats the real story?

Ive read many, if not all, threads on the subject. I'm, myself, in the middle of a full front suspension overhaul. It seems every thread I read when people are asking/talking about ball joints and their replacement its a resounding "cant be done" response.
Now, I understand this is maybe the case for the thermal pressed ones in the A-arms, but the ball joints in the knuckle have a snap ring and are not that difficult to remove. You can even find knuckles in the for sale threads that come without the ball joints. This begs the question- why cant you just press and clip in a new set? Is there a PN# for the ball joints on the knuckles. OEM or otherwise? I have a hard time believing that Acura made this ONE ball joint for this ONE application. Theres got to be something out there since i've seen a member on here offering a replacement service, i mean, what does he use?

Anyone?

Steve Ghent is the gent who replaces these. He uses an slightly oversized ball joint, after boring the knuckle, if I understand his reconditioning process(I think I do, he may chime in). I have installed his units a few times and great product is all I can say.

I am sure you can source the exact replacement, but there is question if replacement alone will be reliable, without a proper press fit into the knuckle.

My $.02

Regards,
LarryB

I put new front ball joints in my '03 from Steve Ghent two years ago and they have worked perfectly on the street and on the track. Great product fast turn around.

Gary

I would love it if there is an oem item number(s) out there. I'd like to DIY

I too have assumed that the NSX must share these replaceable ball joints with another Honda/Acura of similar vintage.
Somebody must know!

I ended up purchasing a set of knuckles (and ball joints) from an 04 NSX with low miles. I hope they'll fit in my 91.

You can absolutely change your own ball joints. Most places do warn to use correct machines for cars like the NSX. As these are aluminum and not forged iron on say a honda civic, you can't take the knuckle out and whack the ball joint bottom with a sledgehammer (though you can on said Civic). They caution about having everything absolutely centered before attempting to remove the old ball joint so that the control arm doesn't crack.

I just taped up the box to mail Steve my front arms to replace all ball joints. Box gets shipped Saturday. Also: Had to purchase the dealership ball joint remover (2 X $$$) after other similar domestic tools failed or damaged the ball joint tips. The tools worked perfectly. I'm thinking about renting mine out to othe forum memberrs once I figure out how to do so at low cost and guarantee of safe return of the tool. This job is a must do for many higher mileage NSX's.

I am working on a replacement for the ball joints that would let you set the tightness of the ball (for a stiffer or smoother response). We are fairly deep into the development on this and I think we have a design that will work well and will exceed the load capacity of the stock ball joints by 2x. I hope to have a prototype complete by late May.

Hi all

Sorry if I am just not smart enough but what would be the symptom if my knuckle/ball joint has never been replaced? My question is really that I am suspecting whether that will cause noise and any other funny issue that makes handling a bit unreliable?

Regards

Ben

Just finished the front and rear ball joint repairs. The job went well but I had to dril out the metal washers that the ball joints go through. Once done.... BAM!!! Went together with ease. I ende up replacing the two rubber steering rack bellows, tie road ends, shocks (Bilstein), upgraded the rotors to slotted/drilled, and painted the calipers. Hoping to align it all and get back on the road as a daily driver

Jeff@Carbon6 said:

I am working on a replacement for the ball joints that would let you set the tightness of the ball (for a stiffer or smoother response). We are fairly deep into the development on this and I think we have a design that will work well and will exceed the load capacity of the stock ball joints by 2x. I hope to have a prototype complete by late May.

Click to expand...

I like to learn more.

- - - Updated - - -

NSXBenny said:

Hi all

Sorry if I am just not smart enough but what would be the symptom if my knuckle/ball joint has never been replaced? My question is really that I am suspecting whether that will cause noise and any other funny issue that makes handling a bit unreliable?

Regards

Ben

Click to expand...

ditto

I just did mine (front), getting them out wasn't the problem. But a nearby race shop had no issues getting the new ones back in, took them 10 minutes or so... I have two extra ones if anyone is interested by the way.

^Part Numbers you used? Out of curiousity? I don't think mine are going bad, but for future reference for others?

We use custom made one, there are made to OE sizes.
They aren't available from Honda

Jeff@Carbon6 said:

I am working on a replacement for the ball joints that would let you set the tightness of the ball (for a stiffer or smoother response). We are fairly deep into the development on this and I think we have a design that will work well and will exceed the load capacity of the stock ball joints by 2x. I hope to have a prototype complete by late May.

Click to expand...

any word on these ball joints?

ALwAyS4SaLe said:

any word on these ball joints?

Click to expand...

Very interested as well.

We did some testing and our design worked well. They have about 2.5 time the lateral load strength as the OEM ones. We originally designed the outer part of the ball joint from Titanium. Because of the difference in thermal expansion from the aluminum to the titanium there was some added stress on the control arm bore. We are looking at possibly undersizing the outer housing by ~.001" and installing them from a frozen state (putting them in your freezer overnight). This will allow the part to slide in easily and when it comes back to operating temp. the fit is the same as the OEM ones. Also, we are now testing the joint housing in aluminum and stainless steel and making some geometry corrections for lowered cars.

Unfortunately I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like on this project. Like everything else, It will take some time to get it perfect.

Out of curiosity what mileage are you guys changing these? Are there symptoms or something I/we should look for?

The mileage on my 1993 was 200,270 when I changed mine. I did it since the boots on the ball joints had all split, and the effort to change the boot was the same as replacing the ball joint

Are these the "balljoints" that normally get replaced? Thanks

ball joint A and C are the awkward ones. the steering arm B is readily available at reasonable cost, but A and C are part of the hub/knuckle assemble from acura/honda. acura/honda don't sell the ball joints seperately, even thought they are retained by circlips and can easily be removed.

the problem is finding balljoints that are a replacement. a couple of earlier posts alluded to having replaced them, but with no actual ball joint details.

usual symptoms are play when the suspension is inspected, or knocks when driving over bumps

i'll be sorting mine soon, so some info would be nice

Larry Bastanza said:

Steve Ghent is the gent who replaces these. He uses an slightly oversized ball joint, after boring the knuckle, if I understand his reconditioning process (I think I do, he may chime in). I have installed his units a few times and great product is all I can say.
LarryB

Click to expand...

I sent our rear hubs to Steve (SMGNSX here on Prime) to have the lower ball joints on the purple car replaced, and they look fantastic!
He has them made for all applications on the NSX, and orders them in batches.......so check with him on turnaround time.

Brian

Jeff@Carbon6 said:

We did some testing and our design worked well. They have about 2.5 time the lateral load strength as the OEM ones. We originally designed the outer part of the ball joint from Titanium. Because of the difference in thermal expansion from the aluminum to the titanium there was some added stress on the control arm bore. We are looking at possibly undersizing the outer housing by ~.001" and installing them from a frozen state (putting them in your freezer overnight). This will allow the part to slide in easily and when it comes back to operating temp. the fit is the same as the OEM ones. Also, we are now testing the joint housing in aluminum and stainless steel and making some geometry corrections for lowered cars.

Unfortunately I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like on this project. Like everything else, It will take some time to get it perfect.

Click to expand...

Well, when you do Jeff, I'd like to be on the list to buy the set. Just put up the list when you're ready.

i'm getting a pair of bare hubs to recondition, but i'm in England, so sourcing ball joints will be easier than sending uprights back and forth across the atlantic!