Ball Joint

[Nevman]

Advisory item on my last MOT says:
"Nearside front suspension arm has slightly play in a ball joint [2.4.G.3]"

Can someone translate it to english for me please.
I mean what do I exactly need to replace as it was 3k miles ago and I think it's time to get it sorted now.
Is it:
http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m22b0s1402p5564
or something else?
And how much £££ I need to spend on part(s) and labour.
Should I replace both sides at the same time or just the one in question?

Thanks for any help.

[ianb]

I got mine done as a recall item, for free, as a safety item on my 2001 model by Mitsubishi garage, it took them 3-4 weeks to get authority from Japan. I contacted English Mitsubishi main office and they refused permission direct to me, but Japan allowed it. Plenty in the forums about this recall. Good luck,
Ian

[Nevman]

There is no recall jobs pending on my car as checked with two RalliArt garages today.
It is just normal wear and tear.
The recall does not include RalliArt UK imports.
But thanks for the tip :2thumbsup

[psbarham]

The recall does not include RalliArt UK imports.
But thanks for the tip :2thumbsup

the recall covers ALL models of galant/legnum. go and find the dealer that told you that and kick him in the doodle /pan

[Nevman]

I've check with two independent RalliArt dealers and both said that there is no recall job pending on my car.
Maybe it has been done in the past by previous owner?
Need to look into service history but can't remember seeing any documents about it...

[MPBVr4]

There's a thread about this somewhere. Member had to contact Colt Cars (Mitsubishi HQ)at Cirencester because the dealers were ducking the issue. He got it sorted in the end.

[Nevman]

Just phoned up Colt Cars and they've said that there is no outstanding recall campaign against my car which means that if there was any in the past (as psbarham suggests), it would have been done by previous owner.
Not too worried then as it look like it is just normal wear.
I will ask Ben to look at it and check what the current situation is.
And also to advise which exactly one and when needs to be done.

[Nick Mann]

The link you have posted is for a track rod end. Easy job! Just get the tracking redone afterwards. That's not really suspension, though, more steering.

It could also be the ball joint on the suspension arm though? That job is also a relatively quick one - wheel off, remove two bolts, split ball joint. Refitting is reverse of removal. The tricky bit is normally the two bolts have rusted on and need persuasion to come off! If anyone charges more than an hour a side they had better have a small hourly rate!

As to the arm itself - the Camskill arms have been called in to question several times in the past. The quality of the ball joint is even more suspect than the original mitsubishi item. Most people that have fitted the Camskill jobby wish they had spent the extra on the revised mitsubishi item.

Only issue is that this part is a LOT more expensive than the one you have linked to.

Hope that helps.

[Nick Mann]

This is the arm from Camskill:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m22b0s1403p7603

But as said, there are a few on here who would not buy one of these from Camskill again!

[Nevman]

Thanks Nick.
I've discussed that with Nutter John yesterday on CVR4 chat and he has explained to me that there are four different ball joints and I need to find out which one it is and then decide what to do.
I thought I've linked to the wrong part. There is no problem with steering nor with anything else. I just thought that if the MOT advise was 3k ago, it may be good idea to look at it and finally get it sorted.

[Nevman]

UPDATE:

Just raised the front of the car and there is a liittle play (1 - 2mm) on the near side wheel but sideways ONLY, not when trying to move the wheel up and down.
No play on the off side wheel whatsoever. Didn't found any play on any other part of the suspension inside the wheels
Would that be due to the problem mentioned on the first post above or something else? Does it sound serious?

[Roberto]

That sounds like the exact situation I'm having at the moment.

Got Mitsu to check and head mechanic was ok with it, at the moment anyway.
As far as he was concerned something to keep an eye on, not urgent.
Same test carried out, no vertical movement.

Interested if you get a final answer aswell.

[Nevman]

I'm going to Ben @ Eurospec to replace my brake discs and pads soon and I'll ask him to take a closer look at it.
Will update the thread later with info from Ben.

[Nevman]

Just came back from Ben.
As always:
Perfect service
Great chat
Time well spent /thankyou /thankyou /thankyou

no coffee though :D

Thanks BEN - you're the man!

Roberto,

Ben has found out that the play is not caused by any ball joint as they are in perfect condition but the track rod and track rod end has a tiny, tiny play on it which may require replacement in near future (about £35 for both from Camskill). Nothing to worry about for a while.
Being paranoid about the car as I am, I decided to replace it asap which means in 3 weeks time, weekend after the TRAX weekend.

[Roberto]

Thanks for that Nev, will get mine checked in the same place.:baby: