# Ball joint replacement= Arm or just the Joint???



## heavyd (Aug 24, 2005)

My daughters 1996 200SX SE-R hit a curb (by itself) and busted the front right (pass) rim, tire still held air. There was a clunking comming from right side front so I took to local goodyear to get checked out. They said right ball joint was broken and needed to be replaced, their cost to me $199 parts(BJ) $145 labor + allignment.
They said it needed the whole arm w/balljoint, I checked with auto zone a new ball joint $29.99 but it is just the ball joint no arm assembly. Question can just ball joint be replaced? Or do I need to pull the arm first to check if the BJ is removable?


Second question is $165 good for a used SE-R wheel?


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## SUPERSTEVE'S200SX (Feb 24, 2004)

heavyd said:


> My daughters 1996 200SX SE-R hit a curb (by itself) and busted the front right (pass) rim, tire still held air. There was a clunking comming from right side front so I took to local goodyear to get checked out. They said right ball joint was broken and needed to be replaced, their cost to me $199 parts(BJ) $145 labor + allignment.
> They said it needed the whole arm w/balljoint, I checked with auto zone a new ball joint $29.99 but it is just the ball joint no arm assembly. Question can just ball joint be replaced? Or do I need to pull the arm first to check if the BJ is removable?
> 
> 
> Second question is $165 good for a used SE-R wheel?



From what i did last week there is no way to just replace the ball joint cause once the boot is busted you have to replace the joint, I would say has to be the whole control arm


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

heavyd said:


> My daughters 1996 200SX SE-R hit a curb (by itself) and busted the front right (pass) rim, tire still held air. There was a clunking comming from right side front so I took to local goodyear to get checked out. They said right ball joint was broken and needed to be replaced, their cost to me $199 parts(BJ) $145 labor + allignment.
> They said it needed the whole arm w/balljoint, I checked with auto zone a new ball joint $29.99 but it is just the ball joint no arm assembly. Question can just ball joint be replaced? Or do I need to pull the arm first to check if the BJ is removable?
> 
> 
> Second question is $165 good for a used SE-R wheel?


My understanding is the joint can be replaced but needs to be pressed in. I have always taken mine to a shop and had the old one pressed out, new one pressed in. 
Sounds like you got off light, when my younger daughter did this number on my Audi 4000 the list of bent and broken parts was much longer..... 

First i would check the bottom arm is not bent. This was severely bent in my case so no question. BTW I used all junk yard parts. 
$165 for one used wheel seems a bit steep, check on the forum and SR20 forum for a used one there. Also the used parts locator. 
this one worked for me when I was looking for a gauge cluster, a quick look shows there are SER wheels for around $50. I found a yard near me and went and picked up my cluster. 
http://www.car-part.com/ 
Good Luck....


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

A junkyard lower control arm can be a cheaper solution if you have access to one of the U pull it yards that charge by the part type rather than application. You could even do without an alignment so long as nothing else was bent and it tracks straight after the arm replacement. I would only skip the alignment if you are really broke though as bad tire wear can be costly.You'll possibly need a pickle fork and a BFH ( Big F'ing Hammer) to seperate the balljoint from the spindle.You should be able to pull it from a junked car in about half an hour if it is up on stands.


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## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

A shop replaced the ball joint without having to put a new control arm in my car a few months ago. 

And just yesterday, I installed a junkyard control arm 'cause the bushings of my control arm was bad. And since the junkyard control arm's ball was too lose, the guy took out the ball joint from my car and pressed that ball joint into the junkyard control arm and then replaced the control arm. So, in a word, it sure is possible to replace just the ball joint, - I have had it done twice.

Otherwise you can get a junkyard control arm for about $60-$80 that *MAY* have a good ball and get the whole arm (with the ball) replaced.


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## Raul (Sep 12, 2002)

Hey heavyd, 
we must be husbands-in-law. My daughter now drives a 96 Sentra GXE, but before that, she, and her two older brothers abused a 91 Sentra (each in their turn). That car, like yours, had a habit of running into curbs all by itself!

I have used both options several times; replaced control arm from the boneyard and also new ball-joints. I like the latter, I was surprised just how tight new balljoints are in their socket when new -- that sold me. I bit the bullet and bought a ball joint press (the Giant-fat C-clamp looking tool) and it worked out well. I got my money back in no time -- I told you, three kids; and curbs everywhere.

Control arm is easily removed, I don't think it would cost much to have new balljoints pressed in if you take the control arm to a machine shop. I have not used this option.

A word of caution, because I always resisted the temptation: I always forced myself to get rid of the tire that led to the bent control arm (yea, I had those too) or damaged joint. There was usually a mark where the tire had been pinched between the curb and rim. I always felt that if the front end was damaged, the tire must have some weak point in it. I just could not justify saving a few bucks and always wondering if my kids were on good tires. 

Good luck.


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