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Lower Control Arm / Ball Joint question on 2008 Grand Prix

M

mjs2011

New member
In February of 2013, I had my drivers side lower control arm replaced, as they noticed it was bad while investigating an ABS issue. It ended up being 117 for the part, and 82.50 for labor for the control arm. The part number on the receipt for the repair shows CAR-CA354B, which I found to be a carquest part selling for around 66 bucks.

Now fast forward to today, I rotated my tires, and since I have been noticing some minor things with the front end lately, I took a look. Here is what I found.
20140819_210156.jpg


This is an image of the passenger side ball joint, which AFAIK is factory. Now below is the drivers side ball joint which was replaced with the control arm around a year and a half ago.


20140819_202639.jpg


Now, is this something that is concerning, and should I go ahead and replace this control arm again? ( I plan to do the work myself as I have garage space to work now, and would do an entire control arm rather than just the ball joint in order to save time. ) Any specific brand to go with? I see that dorman parts are about half the price of moog.

Second, is it advisable to do these things in pairs, or just the side that has issues?

Are there any other things that should be looked at / replaced while I am in there? I did notice the sway bar bushings looked slightly deformed, but maybe that is just me.

Lastly, is an alignment required after control arm replacement? If so, I may end up holding out on any repairs as I am planning on a new set of tires and an alignment before the snow falls.
 


Mehh. Not too concerning. It's up to you. As long as there's no play in the ball joint it's still good. If it were me, and I wasn't worried about grease, I would just keep it greased and wait for it to actually start getting some play. Hell, you might even be able to find a replacement boot somewhere and that way you wouldn;t have to worry about grease getting everywhere. I wouldn't advise doing the other side if there's no play, as you're not really saving any time and you can save a little extra money until it does go bad.

Things that can be checked while you're in there, tie rods, wheel bearing, strut, obvious leaks.

The sway bar bushings as in the rubber bushings that wrap around the sway bar and bolt to the cradle behind the trans? Or sway bar bushings as in the rods that connect the sway bar to the control arm (link pins.. I'm sure there's another name too I'm just too tired to think of it..)? The bushings that bolt to the cradle I've never replaced or recommended replacing unless they were dry rotted, torn, or had obvious play. The link pins do not need to be replaced unless you can feel or hear play (grab the sway bar and vigorously shake it up and down).

You should not need an alignment after replacing a control arm.
 
that blue part is a dust boot, its shot to hell already. dorman lca's are 42 bucks on line. and rather easy to install. 3 bolt job really.
 
If the boot is shot, does that mean the bushing I'd likely bad also? And is Dorman recommended? Compared to moog at twice the price?
 
moog are about 60 a side, but those are fully grease able, witch is nice. on line that is. parts store will rape you.

moog also has cheaper version thats like 40 ish a side, but not grease able.

its not a bushing in the ball joint, its a tapered rod that bolts into a tapered hole in the knuckle. but with the dust boot torn up like that theres no more grease in there, for the bottom to slide in. so it will fail sooner or later.
 
mjs2011 said:
If the boot is shot, does that mean the bushing I'd likely bad also? And is Dorman recommended? Compared to moog at twice the price?
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Not necessarily, but the joint is living on borrowed time. You can buy a little time by keeping clean grease in it, which would involve a couple of shots at each oil change. Clean up the mess when you're done as to not attract dirt. The joint is bad when the play is excessive.
 


How do you check for play? I tried shifting things with the wheel in but it didn't move. Get a long 2x4 under there and pry up?
 
mjs2011 said:
How do you check for play? I tried shifting things with the wheel in but it didn't move. Get a long 2x4 under there and pry up?
Click to expand...

With the tire off the ground,stick a pry bar between the knuckle and the control arm, and pry up. Barely perceptible play is OK. The book says .02 inches, if you have a dial indicator. Anything more and the joint is shot.
 
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if you feel it move when prying on it or see it move, its dead already.

search youtube for a vid how to test it, you just need a large screw driver or pry bar in the right spot. and the car high enough off the ground to work under the ball joint area.
 
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