I was inspecting the front end suspension on my 92 Accord DX. My manual (Chilton) says in regard to inspection of the upper ball joints, to "raise and support the vehicle, remove the front wheel, grasp the steering knuckle and move it back and forth. If any play is detected replace the upper ball joint or control arm as applicable". So I jacked up each side, separately, and with the car supported by the jack and with the wheel removed, grasped the steering knuckle and tried to move it back and forth. I detected absolutely no play with that method.

Then I decided to use another method, as I've seen described online. I left the wheel(s) on and, with the car supported (again separately, each side) by the jack, grasped the tire and tried to detect any side-to-side or top-to-bottom play. I detected no play that way either. Except on the passenger side when I lifted the tire/wheel upward there was obvious up and down movement occuring, and slight simultaneous clunking happening, at the bushings of the upper control arm but none at the ball joint itself.

In regard to inpection of the lower ball joints, my manual says "raise and support the vehicle on jackstands, clamp a dial indicator onto the lower control arm and place the indicator tip on the steering knuckle near the ball joint, place a prybar between the lower control arm and the steering knuckle, work the ball joint back and forth to check for looseness. If the movement exceeds 0.5 mm, replace the ball joint. Well of course I don't have a dial indicator, but the method I used was (with each side up on the jack) putting a prybar underneath the tire and seeing if I could detect any lower balljoint play. I did not.

I would assume on a 20+ year old car that's never had the ball joints changed, and especially with deteriorated/damaged boots around them, that they'd at least be worn or loose enough that in doing the inspection I described I should have detected some play. Since I did not, is it possible the joints are still okay so maybe I could just replace the boots (although I know that probably sounds ridiculous)? Or is the method of inspection I described not necessarily all that reliable or I maybe I didn't do it quite right, and the joints are most likely worn to the point replacement would definitely be recommended?

Photos:
Upper ball joint on the passenger side I could actually separate a split in the boot as I'm doing here. And perhaps you can see the general small cracking/deterioration of the boot.http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps761a6b54.jpg

Upper ball joint on driver side looks like this, boot cracking and deteriorating but not actually split through all the way, yet. http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps29c5158c.jpg

Thanks for any comments.

 

With the car lifted, moving the tire side to side and up and down is good enough to check for faulty components. But for your upper ball joint what you can also do is firmly press down on the top where is connects to the upper control arm and see if there is any play. It requires a bit more strength.

If you need to replace the boots you might as well just replace the entire thing. Its not that expensive (eBay), youll be in there taking things apart and eventually you will need it replaced once it goes to pass inspection (at least in NY).

 

So perhaps if I try doing as you say, firmly pressing down on the top where it connects to the upper control arm, I might detect some play that I otherwise did not by moving the tire up and and down as I did before?

 

Yup, just make sure that side is lifted.

 

Okay, and don't worry about putting anything below the lower control arm, just make sure the tire is off the ground? If so, I might jack up the car and remove the tire so I have more room without the tire in the way so I can put my hands on there good and press down on the top of the upper control arm as you said.

 

You would have enough room with or without the tire. Basically you dont want the part that goes into the other part- that is the rod in the ball joint that goes into the upper control arm- to move.

Funny thing, on a somewhat related tangent when I replaced my last outer tie rod end I took it off and the joint moved so freely it was amusing comparing it to the new part.

 

On that last tie rod replacement, do you happen to recall whether you first did the inspection method of grasping each side of the tire and trying to rock it back and forth to try to detect play in the tie rod joint, and whether the freely moving joint you mention was what you would've expected anyway from your inspection?

 

Yeah. Well I was replacing my front rotors/bearings so I had to take it all apart anyways. With the tie rod you can shake it from side to side and feel some play. There wasn't too much but there was some. All around play can be a bad bearing too.

Those will fail a nys inspection so they're good to replace asap. But based on your descriptions I would say to just replace the worn parts even if they don't move since youll need new boots for them.

 

Yeah, I'd tend to agree with that. No particularly good reason to procrastinate on changing those out, if I can do it now. Thanks for your input here.

 

Sure thing. I've had my share of frustrating suspension work, hopefully it will save others the headache.