ive got a torn upper ball joint, how bad can it get?

[newaccorddriver]

like the title says, i wont be having money for a couple weeks, so id like to know whats bad about driving a car with them, other then accelerated wear on them...

[Justin86]

well besides the extra wear, cause all the grease is leaking out it might be ok for a little while. They really are not that spendy to replace I'd do it ASAP and prop not drive the car to hard until then.

[POS carb]

just tie a plastic bag around it for now to shield it from dirt and water

you don't need to start worrying until you notice your car creaks alot

[newaccorddriver]

well besides the extra wear, cause all the grease is leaking out it might be ok for a little while. They really are not that spendy to replace I'd do it ASAP and prop not drive the car to hard until then.

i was quoted $80CDN for it... i only paid 700 for the car... and put another 500 or so in new parts on it already

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

That price is for the upper ball joint and control arm.

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

You can replace just the boot on the ball joint. I've done that on one of my upper ball joints and its relatively easy with some basic hand tools. The boot can be gotten from the dealer. I don't remember how much it costs, but for the boot and the circlip (new one required), I paid less than $10. Some good grease is also nice to fill up the balljoint. Hope this helps.

[MrBen]

It's fine to drive for now probably; I drove mine (which creaked and groaned) for over a year before I replaced it. I don't recommend doing that though.

[newaccorddriver]

You can replace just the boot on the ball joint. I've done that on one of my upper ball joints and its relatively easy with some basic hand tools. The boot can be gotten from the dealer. I don't remember how much it costs, but for the boot and the circlip (new one required), I paid less than $10. Some good grease is also nice to fill up the balljoint. Hope this helps.

on a scale of 1-10, how hard would it be? i rated the tranny swap on my car a 6/10, but doing the pedals was like 20/10(still not finished with the pedals yet...)

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Well, I'd rate it a 2. You basically take off the wheel, remove the castle nut from the upper ball joint. Separate the balljoint from the knuckle. Pull of remains of old boot. Clean and then grease the ball joint. Apply grease inside the boot. Put on new boot and carefully work the circlip up to the groove in the boot. Reassemble and enjoy

[newaccorddriver]

Well, I'd rate it a 2. You basically take off the wheel, remove the castle nut from the upper ball joint. Separate the balljoint from the knuckle. Pull of remains of old boot. Clean and then grease the ball joint. Apply grease inside the boot. Put on new boot and carefully work the circlip up to the groove in the boot. Reassemble and enjoy

haha, didnt think it would be that easy... thanks for the info, ill look into it tomorrow

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

The toughest part is probably separating the knuckle and the balljoint stud. A pitman arm/tie rod puller does this easily. Available at most autopart stores for 10-15 bucks. Works on every ball joint in the car and is small enough to fit tight spaces. Don't use those huge 2/3 Arm pullers. When putting the suspension back together, you might have to push the upper arm and the knuckle together so that the ball joint stud doesn't spin when you start tightening the castle nut. I use a large c-clamp to apply the pressure, but you can do it with a second set of hands. This may or may not happen to you though. I've come to expect it from my car though. Good luck!