ball joints

[black90lx]

What's the best way to check for bad ball joints? I am getting a little rattling noise in my front end when I hit bumps. When I put the wheel bearings on on both sides a few months back everything felt and looked tight but my sway bar bushings looked a little worn. Could that be making the noise?

[babiixoxbritty]

usually balljoints creek but i guess they could rattle, hard to say without seeing it. i would just replace them and tie rod ends anyway just to be safe, the parts are pretty cheap. dont forget the swaybar ends also.

[facemelter71]

The sway bar ends will do that if worn pretty good.But like he said,might as well replace it all while your in there.Ball joits tie rod ends and sway bar end links.Ive also heard struts to that over some small bumps that make it rebound fast.Like a very small speed bump.

[NXcoupe]

You check ball joints by putting a floor jack under the control arm and jacking it up until the wheel is off the ground. Then grasp the wheel in the 12 and 6 oclock positions and move in and out. It is always good to have someone watch the bottom of the ball joint versus the spindle to see if there is movement between them. If the wheel moves but the spindle stays stationary then the wheel bearings are the culprit. The sway bar end links are your culprit for the rattle.

[black90lx]

You check ball joints by putting a floor jack under the control arm and jacking it up until the wheel is off the ground. Then grasp the wheel in the 12 and 6 oclock positions and move in and out. It is always good to have someone watch the bottom of the ball joint versus the spindle to see if there is movement between them. If the wheel moves but the spindle stays stationary then the wheel bearings are the culprit. The sway bar end links are your culprit for the rattle.

i am pretty sure it is the sway bar bushings. when i put the new wheel bearings(both sides maybe 1000 miles ago) in i saw there was a small gap between the sway bar and the bushings.

[black90lx]

i tried grabbing the wheel on the top and bottom and there was no movement..... thanks for the help guys