Another creaky ball joint warning!

[Oblivion]

Firstly - Once you hear that creaking dont put off getting it sorted. If you find the steering becomes stiffer and particularly if the steering wheel doesn't want to straighten itself after a corner - STOP DRIVING IMMEDIATELY!
Just like many others I had that familiar creak from the ball joint and had booked it in for Tuesday to have it replaced. Unfortunately it wasnt soon enough. /Grrr On Friday I noticed the steering wheel was slightly harder to turn, which I thought may have been due to wider tyres I had just fitted (wrong!)/pan . On Saturday as I took the car out of the garage and started down the driveway I heard this awful 'clunk' and so stopped the car and hopped out to have a look. This is what greeted my eyes....

uploaded/50105/1238314470.jpg

uploaded/50105/1238314561.jpg

In the photo below the wheel should be straight!
uploaded/50105/1238314632.jpg

Why it looks like that
uploaded/50105/1238314683.jpg

Luckily some friends helped me out and we managed to get it sorted out that day.
uploaded/50105/1238314749.jpg

Biggest problem was moving it back up the hill on to the flat part. Trolley jack and a bit of a push....
uploaded/50105/1238314798.jpg

uploaded/50105/1238314866.jpg

I count myself lucky that all thats needed now is some panel and paint to the guard that was pushed out. I know it could have been a LOT worse if I had not been at home or if it was last weekend while on my 1000km road trip (including some 'spirited driving')!

And here's the culprit.
uploaded/50105/1238315098.jpg

[bigoxo]

shocking! lucky it happened where it did tho!

[Louis]

was that a replacement part?. That is the balljoint that comes under the mitsubishi recall do you know if the recall work had been done?, you might get a free one from them if it hasn't been done before, good luck

[bradc]

Strangely though, they never seem to happen at speed, only at below 50kmh.

Sorry to hear of the damage, but you're right, it could have been a lot worse!

[Kieran]

Strangely though, they never seem to happen at speed, only at below 50kmh.

I think that's 99% luck though... :skull:

[bradc]

Perhaps yes, not a recommended way to look at the problem!

[The Vee]

Not happy with these. To me it's a design flaw. Yours hasn't even seized and snapped the pin, just worn the socket and pulled out. Such a good thing that at least you were at such low speed. I really don't like the way that the weight of the car is suspended by these. Hmmmmm back to thoughts of the USDM design..................

[Davezj]

i am really starting to worry about this issue.

have all these ball joint failures been reported to Mitsubishi.

There have been a few of these ball joints fail now, and it only very good luck that one of these hasn't ended in a death.

makes me think of changing my lower arms just in case, but some of the failures have been after market part that have failed.

Has anyone found a reliable source of these lower arms or is it a case the mitsi ones are the only part we trust. but these still fail as well, if they didn't then there would not be a recall in the first place.

[Davezj]

And here's the culprit.
uploaded/50105/1238315098.jpg

just out of interest for safety reasons, how many miles has this ball joint done?

is it a mitsi part or after market part?

Has your car had the lower arm recall been done?


this really worries me!

[ANTHONY]

have any of the recall replaced arms fitted by mitsi failed?

[Davezj]

just to let you know,

the wording of the recall says if there is any play or splits in the dust cover then change the arm other wise it is just an inspection.

just because you have had the recall done it does not mean they have replaced the arm. it could still be an old one.

do a translation from the jap recall site to check.

[ANTHONY]

just to let you know,

the wording of the recall says if there is any play or splits in the dust cover then change the arm other wise it is just an inspection.

just because you have had the recall done it does not mean they have replaced the arm. it could still be an old one.

do a translation from the jap recall site to check.i had my recall done over here and they replaced both arms complete. but are they still liable to go after they have been done

[Davezj]

did they say there was play in both arms or slipt dust covers, when they replaced them. good job you got them done when you did, were they creeking. or did they just replace them anyway.

my car has a recall outstanding on it. but mine show no sign of play or splitting heavey steering, creeking, etc. so i not going to put it in for the recall work untill it is necessary.

I am i right in thinking the replacement part are the same as the old ones just a new part. or has it been redesigned to make it stronger.

i presume lower arms have failed after recall work has been done as people have gone out a bought after market ones as the mitsi one are expensive. and these after market ones have failed also. otherwise why would somebody go out and buy new lower arms when they can get them done under recall.

please correct me if i am wrong about this, as i would not want to put my foot in it (but then why change a habit of a lifetime).

[Louis]

The recall will not last forever!, after a certain number of years they will stop doing the recalls. When I found I had a recall outstanding I called and went to mitsy, the car was booked in and they decided whether the ball joints were damaged. The fault was the split rubber cover allowing dirt into the ball joint causing failure.
The replacement parts they fit are new and are redesigned so they don't fail as the first ones did. (if it is a part that goes faulty after 6 months due to design, they can't replace it with the same part that would go faulty after 6 months!).
If anyone was to have a failure and crash, I don't reckon they would have a case, as mitsy have put out a recall on it, if you know about it and don't get it fixed it would be your fault, as they (mitsy) have done what they can to put the recall out there. (if you use mitsy for servicing they check for outstanding when the car is in).
As for after market, you pay your money and take your chance, (which I do!).
If it needs done, I would get it done!, just my thoughts.

[Oblivion]

just out of interest for safety reasons, how many miles has this ball joint done?

is it a mitsi part or after market part?

Has your car had the lower arm recall been done?

this really worries me!

I've done a lot of kms as I drive it HEAPS :), total on the car is around 160k now.
To me it looks like a Mitsi one, I've replaced it with an aftermarket one as Repco was the only thing open on Sat afternoon.
Not sure if the recall had been done already, I'll have to look in to it.

[Eurospec]

I very strongly suspect that the mitsi replacement arms are exactly the same as OE. I have a set here and they look exactly the same!

I've seen that exact failure mode in OE AND in aftermarket arms.

I suspect the issue is a design problem, specifically the poor lubrication of the ball joint. The problem being that to lube the joint youd have to make a hole in the dust cover.

About all i can think of is to use a syringe with a small needle to inject the joint with grease, and then put a little blob of silicoln over the hole made by the needle.

Cheers,

Ben.

[Kieran]

I wonder... on my old Galant, there's grease nipples on the bottom of the lower arm balljoints. Is it possible to drill the bottom of the balljoint casing and tap it for a grease nipple perhaps?

[Oblivion]

Ok I've just checked the recall status thanks to the thread on here and it doesnt look like it was done while the car was in Japan.

[Subaru ETA]

I wonder... on my old Galant, there's grease nipples on the bottom of the lower arm balljoints. Is it possible to drill the bottom of the balljoint casing and tap it for a grease nipple perhaps?

id say yes it poss. it was done to the first of th AU falcons as there balljoints were popping out as they were driven out of the showroom. so we did just that - drill and tapped in a grease nipple

[Davezj]

My jeep grand cherokee had grease nipple all over the place and the hand book said these had to be done every 6 months. as a matter of course.

[Turbo_Steve]

I suspect that all the failures happen at low speeds as the joint looks like it's under the most load when the wheels are fully turned...which you only really do at maneuvering speeds (unless you're hanging the tail out).

[Davezj]

can you get replacement dust covers for the lower arm ball joints?
because you can get them from the track rod ends.
maybe it would be a possibility to regrease them and replace the cust covers once a year, or every 2 years.

[The Vee]

Think PSB drilled and fitted some after market ones with grease grease nipples. I believe it gave limited success.
On Mitsi replacements, they are exactly the same as the original except that the rubber seals are improved. On the recalls if there was not excessive play in the joint, they did not replace them but merely used a compound to seal the rubbers properly. The whole problem was apparently water ingress causing the joints to become washed out and corrode. Mine were not replaced as were deemed good. A few months later I bought a new pair off Mitsi and fitted them just for peace of mind. I do now take them off annually and check very thoroughly for any signs of wear / water ingress.
I have been looking at the USDM strut design, but alas it may not be as easy to swap over as I'd hoped, looks like it would require a different subframe and the inner wing seats look different.
EVO set up is also of the type I would like (very similar to USDM Galant) but that doesn't look like its doable either. Never say never, still working on it!

[Louis]

Think PSB drilled and fitted some after market ones with grease grease nipples. I believe it gave limited success.
On Mitsi replacements, they are exactly the same as the original except that the rubber seals are improved. On the recalls if there was not excessive play in the joint, they did not replace them but merely used a compound to seal the rubbers properly. The whole problem was apparently water ingress causing the joints to become washed out and corrode. Mine were not replaced as were deemed good. A few months later I bought a new pair off Mitsi and fitted them just for peace of mind. I do now take them off annually and check very thoroughly for any signs of wear / water ingress.
I have been looking at the USDM strut design, but alas it may not be as easy to swap over as I'd hoped, looks like it would require a different subframe and the inner wing seats look different.
EVO set up is also of the type I would like (very similar to USDM Galant) but that doesn't look like its doable either. Never say never, still working on it!

I agree, as far as I am aware it was the rubber that was the problem not the ball joint itself, but the crap rubber would let water and dirt in which would cause the failure of the balljoint. If ball joint looked and felt good when checked they may just replace the rubber boot as it was the prob. Most I have heard of were replaced, I haven't heard of anyone who didn't have the whole arm replaced when it went in for the recall.

[ANTHONY]

My jeep grand cherokee had grease nipple all over the place and the hand book said these had to be done every 6 months. as a matter of course.I'v just fitted new track rod ends from camskill and they come with grease nipples. also when I had my car done at mitsi for the recall they just ordered new arms and fitted them,they did not even bother checking them..just replaced them:happy:

[Louis]

Same with mine, (long time ago), they just replaced both arms.

[vikvallabh82]

I have the same problem however it is post recall change, so I shall have to wait and see what mitsi say.. fingers crossed they accept the liability and fix it!

[Oblivion]

I've just done the other arm / ball joint as the steering felt like it stiffened up again. This time around there was NO creaking of the joint beforehand so just a gentle reminder to not rely on that to warn you. Luckily it held together until I got to the workshop this time :P

[Robotnik123]

I've just done the other arm / ball joint as the steering felt like it stiffened up again. This time around there was NO creaking of the joint beforehand so just a gentle reminder to not rely on that to warn you. Luckily it held together until I got to the workshop this time :P

Hi Oblivion,

What's your view on doing the curved arms as well as the straights? Did you just do the straight ones on yours? Also how much did they cost? Is $120 each a good price for the straights - eg. this auction on trademe:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Mitsubishi/Suspension/auction-268611326.htm

Thanks!

[Oblivion]

I'm no expert but I wouldn't think changing the curved arms is necessary, it would cost a bit more to do of course but wouldn't improve or fix anything. Unless there is a prob with our curved arms that I dont know about?
I only did the straight ones on mine, $120 is around the average price for them which is about what I paid for each of mine.

[mpau009]

I was getting replacement tierod ends for the L200 last month, and out of interest asked these guys for a price on the VR4 lower straight arm. http://www.finda.co.nz/business/listing/y56l/wairau-suspension-distributors/

The guy i spoke to on the saturday there quoted me $88+gst when i mentioned i was part of a VR4 car club.

Might be worth a call if anyone is considering changing theirs. Obviously they arent mistubishi branded, and i cant vouch for them, as i havent needed to change mine as yet, but is a handy contact for suspension stuff in general.

[Subaru ETA]

those guys are really on to it... 1 of 2 places i get my wheel alignments done.

[bradc]

If they aren't mitsubishi then don't but them. Look for the camskill arm thread of very early failures.

[Robotnik123]

I was getting replacement tierod ends for the L200 last month, and out of interest asked these guys for a price on the VR4 lower straight arm. http://www.finda.co.nz/business/listing/y56l/wairau-suspension-distributors/

The guy i spoke to on the saturday there quoted me $88+gst when i mentioned i was part of a VR4 car club.

Might be worth a call if anyone is considering changing theirs. Obviously they arent mistubishi branded, and i cant vouch for them, as i havent needed to change mine as yet, but is a handy contact for suspension stuff in general.

Just bought a couple of TRW brand straight arms from Repco for 97.78+GST (110 incl GST) each. Only the left side of the car is clunking at the moment, but call me paranoid, I figured I might as well replace both sides while I am at it.

Repco have curved arms for $133.78+GST ($150incl), by the way. Prices are retail, not trade.

[Robotnik123]

If they aren't mitsubishi then don't but them. Look for the camskill arm thread of very early failures.

Oops too late, just bought some non-Mitsi ones from Repco. Fingers crossed they're OK. They've got to be better than my old clunking arms anyway.

[bradc]

return them and buy mitsi ones

[Ryan]

Just because Camskill ones might have failed some time in the past does not necessarily mean that all non-MMC parts are going to be duff.

[bradc]

would you be willing to bet your car on that?

[Ryan]

Yeah, why not? Mitsubishi ones fail too.

[miller]

Just the straight ones have failed aftermarket not the curved arms!

[Subaru ETA]

i would agree with ryan - mitsi ones fail too!! i fitted some arms to my mates vr4 i got from BNT ages ago and it hasnt fallen apart! it would of jsut been a batch that camskill had bought in

[wintertidenz]

So Brad, you're telling me that the ones we fitted to my car should be swapped ASAP too? :P Because they certainly weren't Mitsi ones!

[bradc]

I think that everyone should be extremely careful with the arms, especially if they aren't mitsi and replace them at the first noise they make.

If it was my money, I'd buy mitsi ones (and I have)

[raph]

Strangely though, they never seem to happen at speed, only at below 50kmh.

Sorry to hear of the damage, but you're right, it could have been a lot worse!





True,thank goodness ..like i said,all galant derivatives suffer the same problem..galant,eclipse,talon,sebring,avenger,stra tus etc etc

The worst thing about it is that in every case ive seen/heard of,the wing/guard gets ruined in the process .
.. which means a trip to the panel beater and paint

[raph]

And please fit the balljoint so that it sits almost flush and inspect the boot

Failure is caused by torn boot/ water seeping past the boot,rinsing the grease out and the joint rusts

[giblet]

Noticed a grinding noise when moving the wheel yesterday at low speeds. Needless to say the car is now parked up. Will jack it up tomorrow and check the straight arms :(

[KiwiTT]

I've had mine replaced in the past.

[giblet]

I heard back from mitsubishi today saying the car had no outstanding recalls. So the arms have been changed at some point before. The car is on 103k and has been on lowered suspension for the past 20k or so miles so that probably made it worse

[giblet]

Anyone know the best way to check the straight arms, or is it just a case of tugging on them and seeing how much play there is?

[peter thomson]

Unbolting them is the best way

[giblet]

How hard is that? Im the kind of person who is lost without a haynes manual!

[gorgath]

How hard is that? Im the kind of person who is lost without a haynes manual!
If you have the right tools, would be easy.

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18873