Front lower ball joint ?

[turbo87targa]

So I recently felt my car was almost ready to finally have some real power mods added I took it to toyota to have a once over done by a tech and was told both my front lower ball joints were loose and needed replacement.

My question is should the uppers be changed aswell? I've always thought they should be, but the tech not mentioning it makes me think it may be otherwise. Normally I would just replace both and be done with it but the only uppers I've seen are pricey to say the least.

 

[SySt]

The upper ball joints are not replaceable individually unless things have changed in the past couple years... You have to replace the entire upper control arm to replace the upper ball joints. The upper ball joints could be worn out, however it is far more likely that just the lower is worn as they take far more load. You should be fine just replacing the lower joints if the tech said they were bad and did not mention the uppers. I would tell you to just check the joints yourself, of course the fact that you brought the car in to be checked out tells me maybe you shouldn't.

 

[SideWinderGX]

The lower ball joints are the load carrying ball joints. SySt's post is accurate to the t

Driftmotion sells some lower ball joints with zerk fittings for like $30 each, and the lower ball joints are super easy to change assuming you've been underneath a car at least once before.

 

[Frankenstien]

The uppers don't normally wear out, ever. Lower ball joints are cake to replace, shouldn't take you more than 2 hours to get both done, providing you have a hoist.

 

[SC Rydah]

Ok how long with just jack stands?

 

[SySt]

Ok how long with just jack stands?

It shouldn't really take you any longer with jack stands than with a hoist. It's obviously just more of a pain in the ass working on the ground. For what its worth, I could probably replace both front lower ball joints in 30-45 minutes with air tools. So if you have air tools, use them. Also, an alignment check after the replacement is probably recommended, though it really wouldn't be off by much if any.

 

[turbo87targa]

I would tell you to just check the joints yourself, of course the fact that you brought the car in to be checked out tells me maybe you shouldn't.

Haha I had really brought the car in because I wanted the techs opinion (rated the best in the four corner states and former owner of 3 mk3's) to see of I had missed anything. But I did feel embarrassed when I realized I had no idea about my suspension. All the time I've been fixing my supra I've never dealt with the suspension and had no clue about it. But I've ordered the lowers from DM (59$ for the previously mentioned post still a great price ) and I'll be having a buddy of mine help me out since I know he's done suspension work on his.

Thanks for the help guys. Good to know hose uppers *Shouldnt* need changing, I'll hope for the best.

 

[Frankenstien]

It shouldn't really take you any longer with jack stands than with a hoist. It's obviously just more of a pain in the ass working on the ground. For what its worth, I could probably replace both front lower ball joints in 30-45 minutes with air tools. So if you have air tools, use them. Also, an alignment check after the replacement is probably recommended, though it really wouldn't be off by much if any.

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to do things by hand on my car. If I were to race against a clock, different story. 30-45 min is reasonable with air tools. I said 2hrs tops if someone were completely new at doing ball joints and did everything by hand.