Control Arms.

[ByPrOdUcT]

This is probably a very poor question and I am sorry in advance but, my GVR4 failed MOT on "front suspension has slight play in lower suspension ball joints" on both sides.

After searching through the internet for ages, i started looking on here ('cos i am stupid for not looking here first) and found the below.

http://www.viamoto.co.uk/proddetail....VR4+Galant+VR4

So my stupid question is:
Before I order these, are they the correct ones?
I have a late '96 early '97 (going by other parts I have bought) Galant VR4.

[Nick Mann]

That is the upper wishbone.

The lower suspension has two ball joints per side and a further two per side in the steering arms. Any of these can feel the same when feeling ball joint play. Can you ask them to tell you which ball joint has the play?

[ByPrOdUcT]

The MOT guy said that it was just the lower ball joint, left and right, he only saw one each side.
Someone else said that when they needed to replace theirs, they replaced the whole "lower wishbone" as they had it apart anyway and a new one comes with the ball joint.

My problem is that i cant find either.

Is their anywhere that anyone knows of that i can get either of these?
I thought the running gear was meant to be the same as the older EVO's, surely they should be easier to find than this.


I found the below that i think might be it, but i don't really know what i am looking at.

http://www.viamoto.co.uk/proddetail....m%2FGalant+VR4

I found it in two different places with two different names, could these be right maybe?

[Confused]

He obviously wasn't paying enough attention, because, unless you've got US-spec Galant suspension on your VR-4 (which is very, very unlikely), it'll have 2 lower arms - a curved one, and a straight one.

Now, you could replace all arms on both sides with new (and, if it's not been done for a while, I would recommend it as routine maintenance), or you could find out which one has the movement, and replace just the one... then find in another 6 months or a year you need to replace all the other ones, too!

The one you just linked is one of the two lower arms on each side - here is the other: http://www.viamoto.co.uk/proddetail....m%2FGalant+VR4


In both cases (whether you replace just one, or all) - DO NOT BUY COPY/AFTERMARKET ONES. Buy only the genuine ones. We have seen many reports over the years of non-genuine ones fail, and when one of these joints fails, they fail spectacularly, and the cost of damage occurred to the vehicle far outweighs the additional cost for buying the genuine ones in the first place.

[Louis]

image.pngLower arms.
1 X straight.
1 X curved.

[ByPrOdUcT]

You guys are awesome, good shout about the after market ones cos I was actually looking at those.

I am taking it back to the guy today so he can point out which ones specifically need replacing.
Cant afford to do all four in one go this close to after Christmas. I will do the other two next month.

Thank you very much, membership on this site is invaluable.

[Nick Mann]

To be fair I have never heard of a bent arm failing catastrophically, only the straight arm. Therefore if money is tight and all four need doing then buy proper straight ones and cheap bent ones.

[adaxo]

Bend ones knock very loud when they on the way out, straight ones can fail catastrophically without warning and are very hard to diagnose properly while fitted.

[carfanatic]

Wow, them things are well pricey aren't they?

[giblet]

Yup. I recall a main dealer selling them off for cheap a few years ago now to get rid of their stock.