Replacing suspension bushings minus Tie rod ends/ball joints

[fiftytakedowns]

DO the Tie rod ends/ball joints wear down? I don't know if mine have been replaced, or are in good shape, but the control arm bushings and other rubber are deteriorating, and i was gonna tighten things up with a urethane steering coupler, and urethane bushings there. I was curious as to how much of suspension "tightness" was attributed to the idler arm, ball joints, as well as tie rod ends.

Thanks

[Guest Anonymous]

sure - if the rubber cracks and the grease washes out, they wear and get loose. One easy check if the rubber isn't obviously cracked is to twist the joint to the side. If it stays put, the joint might be OK. If it flops back to a "straight" position then it needs replacing.

[Mike Self]

1. Jack up, place on stands, remove wheels

2. For the ball joints: inspect the rubber boots; if they're torn or cracked, replace the joint; they're contaminated. If you can feel motion when you grab either the bottom of the strut or the end of the suspension arm, the ball joint is worn. Replace it. From my experience if the boot isn't torn, the OEM ball joints will last a long time. I replaced the orignial ones on both my '02s (69 & 73) at well over 220k and they weren't really worn, just old.

3. For tie rod ends. Torn boot--replace. Have assistant slowly turn the steering wheel, and see if there's lost motion between the segments. If so, grab the tie rod and try wiggling in in relation to its mount. If there's detectable motion, replace it. Again, tie rods are pretty long lived if the boots aren't torn, thus allowing grease out and dirt in.

Hope that helps

mike

[SteveJ]

It's one of those items that get overlooked when people do upgrades. The magazines have lots of glossy pictures of springs, swaybars, and shocks. Not so much exposure for the ball joints, control arms, and upper strut bearings. Even less for the rear bushings.

Think of the suspension as a system. It's only going to be as good as the weakest part. If you buy all the new go-fast parts and forego the other parts...well...

The nice thing is, as Mike stated, they tend to last a very long time. If you replace 'em, you can almost forget 'em for the rest of the time you own the car. And, if you are already in there...

[TobyB]

Unless you're good at testing the ball joints, I'd replace them.

They are cheap, not hard to do while you're in there, and

really hard to do if you don't. If they're rivetted in place, then certainly

do- they're 40 years old.

AND if they fail (very unusual, but it has happened) it's a catastrophic failure.

The tie rod ends are a lot easier to test, don't catastrophically fail, and

last even longer than the ball joints. So I don't replace them if they test OK.

I DO replace the center rod (drag link) whenever things are apart-

they seem to have a 5- year or so lifespan, and any movement there

translates to steering wiggle.

hth

t