Couple questions (got the car back)

Alright, as some of you know my balljoints were a bitch to work on and wouldnt come out so I took them to a shop. The mechanic spent 20minutes trying to pry it out (with an air hammer pickel fork too) and no dice. So he cut it off (the pass one came out with the hammer) and I got my new balljoints in. I got new (used, but better) rotors up front that were in good condition (no resurface) with the better of the 2 choice of pads.

While it was up the hoist I took a look (since this guy is a friend of a friend, he let me help him work on it for a reduced price) the underbody isnt as rusted as the rest of the car is, which is good. Its got some rust but I can live with it.
-As for the suspension, I broke 1 coil on the driver side front spring which isnt too bad, but Id like to change that out. The upper control arm on the passenger side has a bad ball joint up there, its torn (which is new, so Ive got a couple days) and the tie rod on the driver side boot is all fucked up and theres PS fluid all over it (which is new, the boot was ripped before, but the fluid is new). The mechanic told me that a new boot might clear up the fluid and stop the risk of the rack and pinion failure (or atleast prolong the life of it as most boots do).
All my other bushings seem to be fine, except the cv axles (which we couldnt get out, because I didnt want to pay extra for labor to figure out how to get the damn strut to lower am bolt out. The air gun didnt even work.

So the majority of the noises made from the front end of the car are gone, however I do still have a clunking around turns and a sound/feel like clicking while driving straight too. I figure its still the shafts because I know the driver side one is still intact, but the one clamp that holds the boot in place got loose some how and the grease came out shaft side towards the engine, and I know it clicks.

However, it sounds like the noise comes from the passenger side, which I cannot see (or feel) anything wrong with the shaft. It doesnt have any abnormal play and it looks good. However its still possible its old and the grease dried up, but the shaft is clean.

What do you guys think? I plan on doing the shafts and replacing both front struts/springs with the ones out of the parts car and replacing the upper control arm with the balljoint (would the ball joint cause any noises like this?)

Those noises are your drive shafts. If you decide to replace the drive shafts, there are several threads here on how to get that bolt out of the damper fork. In most cases you will need to get a new bolt because removing it will destroy it. the best method I've seen but not tried is to cut the bolt head off then remove the nut on the other end of this bolt. Get a stack of washers and put them over the bolt end that the nut came off of. Tighten the nut down over the washers and little by little the bolt will come through. Before you put the new bolt in, put anti seize compound on it so it won't get stuck again. Also, you might as well do the springs at the same time because it's the same job. You will need to remove the damper fork to get the damper and spring out.

instead of changing out the whole axle, you can always rebuild the existing axle like i did, i basically removed it thru the fork (took apart the boot and slide it thru the fork). rebuilt it outisde and packed it with bearing grease and nothing since that and i got more than 7K miles since then. Hose clamps work perfectly fine, just make sure u get the bigger ones.

as far as removing the struts, just drop the knuckle from the top balljoint (the one where the upper control arm locks in), then loosen the bolt that holds the strut bottom in, use a crowbar and pry the slit a little bit, push down on the knuckle and the strut pops out. makes ur life a lot easier.

Whats the rating on the bolt and where do I get it from? Cutting is not something Im against doing. Length and whatever helps too, but aslong as part source carries them as a "damper bolt" for my car its all good.

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Originally Posted by FyreDaug

Whats the rating on the bolt and where do I get it from? Cutting is not something Im against doing. Length and whatever helps too, but aslong as part source carries them as a "damper bolt" for my car its all good.

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It's a honda part so you need to get it from the dealer. It has grooves cut into it designed to hold lube and the diameter is designed to have a snug fit to the bushing. It's about $10 each if I remember right.

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Originally Posted by smufguy

instead of changing out the whole axle, you can always rebuild the existing axle like i did, i basically removed it thru the fork (took apart the boot and slide it thru the fork). rebuilt it outisde and packed it with bearing grease and nothing since that and i got more than 7K miles since then. Hose clamps work perfectly fine, just make sure u get the bigger ones.

as far as removing the struts, just drop the knuckle from the top balljoint (the one where the upper control arm locks in), then loosen the bolt that holds the strut bottom in, use a crowbar and pry the slit a little bit, push down on the knuckle and the strut pops out. makes ur life a lot easier.

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He has a broken spring to fix so he has to take for fork off anyway. Might as well replace the whole shaft.

Yeah, but when I do do the suspension it will be better than OEM thats for sure.

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Originally Posted by FyreDaug

Yeah, but when I do do the suspension it will be better than OEM thats for sure.

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What are you thinking about doing to upgrade your suspension?

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Originally Posted by Blkblurr

What are you thinking about doing to upgrade your suspension?

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Sporty dampers with 2" drop with a tight rear end.