| I posted this over in the technical section, but wanted to post it here as well. If you found it helpful, please VTF so others can find it easily in the future. Thanks! I was getting a popping sound from the front driver's side under hard braking. I'd replaced all of the arms that I could with adjustable arms, and still getting the popping. I decided it was either my king pin bearing, or the lower control arm. Since I had a 50/50 chance it could be either one, I figured I'd go ahead and knock out the lower control arm job first since at least I'd then have the peace of mind that all of my suspension components were fresh. After doing some research and finding very little information regarding what this job required, I decided to create another writeup. So here it goes. I ordered Energy Suspension urethane bushings and Ingalls ball joints. Moog is another good brand for the joints, but I couldn't source any timely. I complete the job on a spare set of arms I had from an earlier Z, so you may notice there aren't any threads for the brake air deflectors. I simply zip-tied these to the arms upon completion of the install. Tools you will need: -17mm, 19mm wrenches/sockets, (12mm for brake deflector bolt)
-Ball joint service kit Steps: First, you want to remove the old bushings from the arms. This is the worst part of the job, all of the nightmare stories you've heard from removing oem bushings from subframes and control arms apply here. You can burn/cut/holesaw/hammer your way through these. I actually got lucky and as you can see, one of them just popped right out with some heavy hammering. The other was much more difficult. Remember to leave the cups intact as the ES bushings are designed to fit inside and envelope these cups. If you're pressing/hammering the center metal shaft out, you'll want to be sure you're going the direction that catches the cup lip, otherwise the cup will press right out of the arm. Once you get the bushings out, clean up the remaining bushing material from the cups with a small wire drill bit or something similar. 
Now you can move onto the ball joints. This is what they look like, notice the c-clip/snap ring securing the base of the joint in place. 
Remove the c-clip/snap ring with the appropriate snap ring pliers. 
This is the ball joint press tool I rented. It's expensive to rent (circa $150), but you can return it for a full refund once the job is completed. 
Kit opened: 
This is the socket I used for reinstallation. We will get to that in a moment, but for reference it is the 3" length with 2" OD and 1 3/4" ID 
To begin, place the cone of the ball joint inside the tool like so. 
Grab the appropriate pieces that fit over the back of the joint and hand-tighten everything to get ready to crank on the threaded clamp rod. 
Everything aligned: 
As you begin to crank down on it, the old ball joint will begin to press out. 
After a bit of intense cranking on the ball joint press tool (it helps to have another person to hold the arm steady), the ball joint will pop out thusly. Be sure to retain the black cone that fits over the joint. It is removeable and will be required to fit over the new ball joint. I slipped a wrench just large enough to slide around the joint but small enough to catch the bottom of the cone, then hammered on the threaded portion of the joint until the cone popped off the joint. 
The end result: 
I wanted to freshen them up and help protect them from ever deteriorating or developing rust, so I dropped them off with my local powder coater. 
Then I wrapped them in syran wrap to help protect the finish before reinstalling the ball joints. 
I then slipped the ball joint into place, then set up the ball joint press like so for reinstallation. I used several layers of painter's tape and double-sided tape to help protect my finish from the tool. This would not be necessary for a stock arm with the factory black finish. 
The ball joints slipped in fairly easily, then simply reinstall the new c-clip/snap ring. 
Grab your ES bushings when you're ready to reinstall the arms. 
Coat the bushings with a liberal amount of the ES Formula 5 prelube that should have been included with your new bushings. You'll notice after sliding the bolt shaft through the bushings that the bushings will want to creep their way out. This is why I recommend installing these just before reinstalling the arms onto the car. The crossmember section these slip into is tapered, so as you push the arm further toward the bolt holes the bushings will press back into place. 
Final product: 
Reinstall the arms and you're done. If your ball joints or bushings are shot, this will certainly be a noticeable improvement in handling. In my particular situation, this did not fix the popping issue I was having - but I've been told by others that this arm was a source of similar noises. I believe the cause of my issue was the king pin bearing in the end, which I've since replaced but haven't driven on it yet to verify. However, I did notice that the steering seems more solid, but could simply be a placebo effect as well as it isn't intensely noticable since my old arms were still in great shape when I removed them.
Cheers,
JBrobst 
|
DIY: front lower control arm service - 
