6th Gen 2.0 Coupe, suspension knocking

[Sphinx_T]

Hi All,

Got a question I'm hoping one of you can help me with;
My front end is knocking something awful and I've narrowed it down to the upper ball joints in the upper arms. Does anyone know if you can just replace the ball joint? Looks like it's held in with a circlip. OR do you need to replace the entire arm?
Either way, does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy from and/or brands to go for? I don't want to buy some cheap rubbish that'll fail in 6 months.

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[AndyB1976]

Looks like you can buy the balljoint.

http://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection_pfk.php?block_01=17S1T01&block_02=B__2700&block_03=2653

4 PFKL658128 ARM ***Y., R. FR. UPPER £213.92 (€243.87) ($342.27) 001

5 PFKL658529 ARM ***Y., L. FR. UPPER £228.26 (€260.22) ($365.22) 001

6 PFKL658581 BOOT, UPPER BALL JOINT £19.06 (€21.73) ($30.50) 002

8 PFKL670690 CIRCLIP, CONTROL ARM £4.32 (€4.92) ($6.91) 002

15 PFKL990518 NUT, UPPER BALL PIN, 10MM £3.96 (€4.51) ($6.34) 002

19 PFKL1021600 PIN, SPLIT, 2.0X18 £0.56 (€0.64) ($0.90) 002




I don't know about third party options, it will likely be cheaper but the quality could be questionable.

 

[jjmartin349571]

You can indeed change the ball joints out, I have done this on my 6th Gen hatch and the arms look identical. I can't comment on the quality though as my car hasn't moved since :lol:

 

[skhell]

I think Honda doesn't sell the upper ball joint, but as Josh stated, there are third party ball joints.
If you look closer, part 4 and 5 are the all arm ***embly. Part 6 is the rubber dust boot and part 8 is the cir-clip which holds the dust boot.

These should be what you are looking for:
http://www.rexbo.eu/febi/support-steering-link-26276?c=100581&at=8516

 

[Daveybee]

Tbh id change the entire arm as the 2 inner bushes on the arm are probably worn aswell.

 

[AndyB1976]

I think Honda doesn't sell the upper ball joint, but as Josh stated, there are third party ball joints.
If you look closer, part 4 and 5 are the all arm ***embly. Part 6 is the rubber dust boot and part 8 is the cir-clip which holds the dust boot.

These should be what you are looking for:
http://www.rexbo.eu/febi/support-steering-link-26276?c=100581&at=8516

My mistake, I was looking at the boot!

Sorry guys!

 

[sta]

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Honda-Accord-2-0i-Suspension-Arm-Upper-LH-FCA5783-1996-98-/150999404588?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item232844102c
hows that then? i might need a few bits like that myself, havent had time to look into it yet tho.

 

[skhell]

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Honda-Accord-2-0i-Suspension-Arm-Upper-LH-FCA5783-1996-98-/150999404588?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item232844102c
hows that then? i might need a few bits like that myself, havent had time to look into it yet tho.

For that price, I bet that won't last long...

 

[Sphinx_T]

Thanks for all the replies, here's an update on the situation:

I looked high and low and found the following:
You can buy just the upper ball joint in a 'decent' brand like Delphi to use in the original arm but I couldn't find anywhere that sold the two bushes for it; which will no doubt be worn in the original arm. So as far as I can work out you can't fully refurbish the original arm with all good parts.
You can also buy a host of cheaper complete upper arms with new bushes and ball joints. This is what I did as I saw it as the only option. If they fail again in future I will take them back OR refurbish these with a better ball joint perhaps.

I also replaced the lower ball joints with Lemforder items as these are, imo, one of the best and I've used them before on my BMW. This was not as much of a pain as I was expecting; you need to hammer the old joints out and hammer the new ones in, then fit a circlip.

So, the car now has new upper and lower ball joints which has reduced the knocking noise considerably...but it still makes the occasional noise !!!!!
It also STILL makes a creak / groan when turning and doing slow manoeuvres.
Can anyone shed some light on this? perhaps a common cause for this?

I'm going to replace the track-rod ends now too as the old ones looked a little past it. I really wanted to avoid just throwing money at the damn thing, but I can't stand noises from suspension.

 

[skhell]

Have you checked the ARB drop links?

BTW: did you removed the wheel knuckle to replace the lower ball joint, or you did that with it mounted in car?

 

[Sphinx_T]

Yeah I replaced those a few months ago too! But I'm going to check them again (maybe take them off completely and take the car for a spin and see if there are any noises)
Regarding the lower ball joints; yes I took the whole knuckle out and did it on a bench. Actually I took the shock/spring out too to make getting to the upper arm bolts easier.