Replacing lower ball joint

[-Rich-]

I'm jumping ahead of myself here but just trying to figure out if this is something I can do myself if I get the car I've been looking at and how much it will cost.

I have seen replacement ball joints on ebay for about £15, do Honda now sell these separately and does anyone know the price?

How difficult are they to change? I have done alot of suspension work on previous cars so should be ok but I think these might need to be pressed in, is that true? The circlips that come with the new ones I ***ume are just to hold it in place?

I have spent ages searching but can't find much info on these or a guide.

 

[Pulainl]

Hi rich, my car had both ball joints replaced by maidenhead Honda (little wick green) in April. I've just looked through the history and it was £172 labour & £90 for both joints. Part no 51220 SDA 305. It also needed a new ABS sensor as this was seized in the ball joint, this was another £141. All in all about £500!! With the vat. Ouch. I

 

[shab_the_man]

I need to do this I suspect, would appreciate a writeup if you do take the task on. Good luck dude.
BTW advise getting genuine parts.
Also have you checked its not the compliance bushes that have gone?

 

[ToothlessDrunk]

Never done accord ones , but pressed in ones usually can be coaxed out with a touch of heat and a good beating . Put the new ones in the freezer when you get them and then when old one are removed warm the housing ,grab em new bits from the freezer and whack em in . A press is just a really heavy hammer that works with one hit however the last time I made a **** of a similar job was when I did just use the press , having a 60ton hydro press ain't always an advantage as the home bodge methods are often kinder to parts than the " professional" methods . When I balls it up at work , I go to the shelf get another one and bump the bill up to cover my mistake , Can't do that at home ,so you develope better methods that maybe take longer and need patience but work better . So as you sound spanner confident I would say worry not about pressed or not pressed and carry on .

 

[shab_the_man]

Never done accord ones , but pressed in ones usually can be coaxed out with a touch of heat and a good beating . Put the new ones in the freezer when you get them and then when old one are removed warm the housing ,grab em new bits from the freezer and whack em in . A press is just a really heavy hammer that works with one hit however the last time I made a **** of a similar job was when I did just use the press , having a 60ton hydro press ain't always an advantage as the home bodge methods are often kinder to parts than the " professional" methods . When I balls it up at work , I go to the shelf get another one and bump the bill up to cover my mistake , Can't do that at home ,so you develope better methods that maybe take longer and need patience but work better . So as you sound spanner confident I would say worry not about pressed or not pressed and carry on .

Some good ideas there pal, will keep that in mind. Freezer idea that is lol

 

[-Rich-]

Hi rich, my car had both ball joints replaced by maidenhead Honda (little wick green) in April. I've just looked through the history and it was £172 labour & £90 for both joints. Part no 51220 SDA 305. It also needed a new ABS sensor as this was seized in the ball joint, this was another £141. All in all about £500!! With the vat. Ouch. I

Thanks Lee, so lets say £50 a ball joint, which don't think is too bad seeing that a pattern part is £15 and will probably last less than half the time of the Honda one.

How is the ABS sensor fitted if it was seized in the ball joint? Normally they go through the knuckle and sit next to the CV joint, but rust builds up around them meaning you can't remove them without breaking, which is why it's always best to unplug them at the other end. I've learnt that in the past, expensive mistake, so unless the sensor is actually faulty there is no reason for it to be removed from the knuckle. I'm wondering if Honda tried to pull the sensor out rather than unbolting it and broke it.

I need to do this I suspect, would appreciate a writeup if you do take the task on. Good luck dude.
BTW advise getting genuine parts.
Also have you checked its not the compliance bushes that have gone?

If I get the car I'll change them next year when it's warmer and I can book a couple of days off work, so if no one has beaten me to it I'll do a guide

Never done accord ones , but pressed in ones usually can be coaxed out with a touch of heat and a good beating . Put the new ones in the freezer when you get them and then when old one are removed warm the housing ,grab em new bits from the freezer and whack em in . A press is just a really heavy hammer that works with one hit however the last time I made a **** of a similar job was when I did just use the press , having a 60ton hydro press ain't always an advantage as the home bodge methods are often kinder to parts than the " professional" methods . When I balls it up at work , I go to the shelf get another one and bump the bill up to cover my mistake , Can't do that at home ,so you develope better methods that maybe take longer and need patience but work better . So as you sound spanner confident I would say worry not about pressed or not pressed and carry on .

Is putting them in the freezer going to damage the boot (make it go brittle and crack) or affect the grease? Obviously these parts are in the cold outside but this would be more direct contact with ice. It's a good idea though

 

[ToothlessDrunk]

never had any issues with the boot being damaged from a household freezer , the grease will soften again once it warms up . When I worked in Russia we just left bearings and bushes outside where it went down to - 40c some nights and they were fine for fitting the next day . The entire 36 meter arm did fall of a machine one day ... but the rubber bushes were fine, it was the steel that couldn't handle it .

 

[Pulainl]

Hi rich, this work was done just before I purchased the car, the receipt gave a breakdown of the work and one of the items was free off seized abs sensor and replace, it could of been a seperate item, that was done at the same time. I agree, that at £90 a pair it's worth buying genuine, my car is an 05 with 99k, so it's lasted well.