[Tommm]

I got my shiny new control arms from Tasca yesterday and want to install them tomorrow. They dont come with ball joints, but do come with the bushings. The bushings are about $60 each side and the control arm is $125.

The car has 72k on it and I dont want to touch the arms for another 72k miles. What mileage have you gotten on your front ball joints ($55 each at Tasca)?

Also got the sway bar end links which should quiet things down a bit.

Any tricks I should know about so I dont kill the ball joints? TIA.

 

[n00bkiller944]

Do the ball joints... They might not seem dead but mine deff had play after 70k... Yes, they did still have life, but like you I replaced them so I wouldn't have to mess with stuff anymore.

 

[Tommm]

I ordered lemforder ball joints from rmeuropean ($51 each free shipping - but had to pay $4 CO tax) and saved about $15 over Tasca. The local dealer wanted $107 for each ball joint which has a MSRP of $85 according to Tasca and every other site. Time for a new dealer i think. NAPA doesnt have them in the country and O'Reilly had to special order them for about 58 each unknown brand. I didnt want the $30 scan techs.

So for $105 I get to use my pickle forks which is a no no on the M3 or 944.

 

[Guest]

pickle fork? dont recall them coming out like that. there are two bolts on each side and it seems like its pressed into a groove on the bottom.

 

[Tommm]

pickle fork? dont recall them coming out like that. there are two bolts on each side and it seems like its pressed into a groove on the bottom.

so unscrew the two bolts, put the nut on the top of the ball joint and just give it a whack? Even better.

Must I compress the springs like the DIY on this forum says?

 

[shoebox]

The car has 72k on it and I dont want to touch the arms for another 72k miles. What mileage have you gotten on your front ball joints ($55 each at Tasca)?

I am in the same situation at 2004 XC90 73k. About to have arms replaced at mechanics but he didn't mention anything about ball joints. Car has original ball joints. Several members on here seem have done ball joints >100k miles. Given the age of vehicle good idea to replace or should I just wait. Vehicle is parked outside 24/7 in sunny florida.

 

[ChitownV]

Replace. The ball joints will get damaged when separating from the arms, it’s in their design as it has thin metal flush mount wafer(name?) thing which is like a thin flimsy spacer between the control arm and rubber boot. You will see it in the pictures. Using a separator tool will damage it.

This is overlapping work with the control arms. Installing new ball joints should save time as it takes more labor to separate the ball joints without damaging them versus just popping in new ones. Your mileage is just hitting the lower range to suggest ball joints and your weather + age also suggests it too.

 

[ggleavitt]

I agree with doing the ball joints whenever you're in doing LCA, makes sense.

Regarding removal from the LCA- if you use the proper tool, it does no damage. I stopped trying to pound them out once I had the tool below.

I'm a firm believer in Volvo blue box for this part, having tried aftermarket once- XC90 Ball Joint Replacement and Non-OE Parts Observation , this was the replacement when I did my first LCA swap back in the day and lasted a whole 50k miles.

edit- add link and Volvo OE mention.

 

[vince1]

170k miles on originals and I don't think they are loose yet.

 

[shoebox]

Are Lemforder Ball joints still recommended?

 

[ChitownV]

Yes, the recommendations are in this thread.

ChitownV: my front end rebuild/upgrade using OEM &amp...

(Feb 2023) This thread started to show an honest journey of trying different branded parts in improving the XC90 suspension. It has been updated to reflect the feedback of SwedeSpeed members and you can read their experiences in the rest of this thread. Some Volvo "blue box" parts do not last or...

www.swedespeed.com

 

[cn90]

Yes,

I recommend Lemforder. When I overhauled my Front Suspension @120K miles in Nov 2019 (see DIY I wrote below), the ball joints were loose but not bad yet. After new ball joints, it was better (tighter)...

DIY: Front Suspension Rebuild (2005 XC90 2.5T AWD with 120K)

DIY: Front Suspension Rebuild (2005 XC90 2.5T AWD with 120K) - The usual symptoms: car drives “like a boat” with vague feeling. - Inspection showed cracked rear

www.matthewsvolvosite.com