damn county road

[bcjammerx]

So I installed my ball joints...took a spin to town (25min drive) alllll goood.

Then yesterday on my way to work some jerk decides my lane is better than his (on comming) on a nice sharp turn, forcing me to go off road. And since our lovely county doesn't upkeep the black tops out here there is a nice 3.5" SHARP drop off which results in a slightly dinged rim.

Now...I've had this happen before...in fact...I've bent one steelie so bad I couldn't repair it. The other two times...yes a total of 3x's I've been run off the road...the roads are blacktops that are just shitty...any hoo I've had MUCH larger bends in my rims as a result and was able to repair. This ding was NOTHING...still held air pressure in fact.

So I fix the rim, and drive the car to take my ball joint press back to autozone...now I've got a clunking noise when the front end dips or raises. It's on the right side...the side that hit.

I can pull up and push down on the fender on the car and it seems like the clunking comes from the upper end...upper ball joint maybe? But I don't know. When I hit a bump it won't really do it...it's when I hit a long slow bump that makes the front end go way down...but when it lifts up is when it does it most. These ball joints are TWO days old...surely this didn't break them...the 15 year old ones took WAY more abuse...again...I don't know..we'll see.

*sigh...I haven't looked into it yet...but I'll update. Dammit.

[bcjammerx]

Theseupper control arms are pieces of SHIT!

The upper ball joint has come out of the arm! Mother fucker

[Tnwagn]

Wow, are the TASAuto arms on the car and the side that hit or what?

[bcjammerx]

Wow, are the TASAuto arms on the car and the side that hit or what?

yes...these were from the group buy, I'm sure their adjustable arms are fine as those ball joints bolt on...and I don't know if their non group buy arms are made differently.

It wasn't even that hard of a hit. You can't argue the parts are fine it was my fault because my damn 14 year old ball joints took FAR worse hits than this...hell one of 'em resulted in a steelie that couldn't be bent back... FOURTEEN YEAR OLD ball joints held up better than these brand new ones!


The ball joint came un pressed from the upper control arm. They look like they are held in with a snap ring, but the groove for the snap ring is 3x's thicker then the damn ring...so that's a lot of room for movement.

Basically the snap ring just prevents the ball joint from coming completely out and NOTHING more.

I will press it back in, I have no choice but to drive on these until I get replacements...hope I don't find any more pot holes.

The rears are made the same way...they will not touch my car.

also the dust boot was pushed off...my camera is out but if I find my adapter I'll post cell phone pics...

I've emailed tasauto, I want my money back and they can have their parts...I doubt that'll happen but I'm reserving judgment until I hear back from them. I will not call them cause I am super hot right now.

Now I get to 2-day ship parts from honda...great...there goes my next two pay checks...at least the parts won't fail on me.

[johnl]

If you are having to go with OE Honda upper wishbones but need to change camber angle, then elongating the 'wishbone' attachment holes (the four holes in the pressed metal of each wishbone where it attaches to the two chassis mounting bushes) allows camber to be changed / adjusted.

Elongating the holes (i.e. 'slotting' them) by 8mm (allowing the wishbone to be moved in or out by 8mm, depending on the direction in which the slot is elongated) will give 1° of camber change, 4mm = 0.5° camber change, 2mm = 2.5° camnber change (etc).

Be aware that more than a slight camber change may result in the wishbone contacting the suspension tower wall and / or chassis mounting bush posts (the metal housings that hold the bushes themselves), and may require metal to be removed to provide adequate clearance. With my car I've ground metal away on both the wishbone and on the bush post, but any modification should only be undertaken if you're confident that you know what you are doing...

[Tnwagn]

Damn, that REALLY sucks dude. I hope they stand behind their product and refund you or something. Makes me worry about my TASAuto parts

[bcjammerx]

I examined the ball joints again. I was incorrect, the groove for the snap ring isn't that large. There are two grooves, the first is for the dust boot, the second (smaller) is for the snap ring.

Had I known this is how these were constructed I would not have bought them...the G-Man (gary) had this style and they failed on him during auto-x...mine failed on me as well...do NOT use this style of ball joints for the upper a-arm...

The snap ring doesn't go all the way into the groove (I compared it to the undamaged one...it doesn't go in all the way either), hitting a bump results in the snap ring coming out...which is what happened to me.


The fitment isn't super tight so it gets pushed out...it's just a poor design...snap ring being the main fault, not as tight of a fitment as it should be being the second fault.

I put it all back together, and then hammered the snap ring into the groove...it will hold until I replace it with spc ball joints...looked at moog ones today and was not impressed with their construction. The cost of two spc (specialty products company) -1.5 - +1.5 ball joints is less than one control arm w/joint from honda...folks say the spc's should be good.

I am still working on pics...can't find my micro sd to sd memory stick converter.

[YK86]

Up in Canada, you can buy just the balljoint for the upper control arms made in Japan and sold under the Altrom brand for about $40CAD/$35US each. The balljoints themselves are very solid, doesn't wear out prematurely. But the fitment is a tad off with the snap ring groove. I usually press it as much as possible, then use a chisel to help push the snapring into the groove. Then what a lot of us do is make 3 or 4 tack welds on the top side. This really helps with keeping the balljoint sitting where it should be without any movement and it doesn't rely on just the snap ring. If you ever need to replace the joint again, just grind the welds. I know you said you are ordering SPC's so maybe weld the TASAUTO ones and keep the old oem arms for the SPC's?

I've done this to about 5 CB's now and never had any come back. There's a couple other guys that did the same on Vancouver Accords too and didn't have problems after. So you may want to give that a try before just throwing them out.

Just so you know, I think all balljoints (front upper and lower, rear upper) except for some of the newer front lowers that just press in (no snap ring) are designed with the snap ring and groove. The front upper made by Altrom (no other company makes front uppers in Canada) is the only one that needed to be welded. What didn't you like about the Moogs? I've never had any quality issues with their stuff.

BTW, I have no idea what these TASAUTO ones are like so I'm not saying the actual balljoint will hold up like the ones I've tried. And no part should need to be welded but in my case, these Altrom ones do last (128,000km/80,000miles on mine and still going strong with no play) and for $40 a side, I don't mind the 5 mins of welding.

[bcjammerx]

I will never install a ball joint that uses a snap ring to hold it in. Nor should anyone else.

The OEM ones are not designed like this. The uppers at least. The lowers WERE designed like this but honda changed them...now they are JUST pressed in.

I've seen TWO of these upper ball joints like this fail...g-mans, and mine. G-man (gary) does auto-x, mine lasted ONE day and I hit a bump...neither of those situations was severe enough treatment imo to warrant such failure.

The snap rings don't seem to go in far enough into the groove or the groove isn't deep enough...the ring gets slightly bent then pops out.


If your upper ball joints go out...either pay 138 a PIECE for arms from honda or pay 96 a piece and replace with spc adjustable ball joints...which is what I'm doing. Don't know what I'll do about the rears

[YK86]

The Honda ones use a snap ring as well but they just use a type that doesn't have the 2 holes on the ends for the snap ring pliers to lock on to. They also seem to use a bit of black glue to keep it snug on the top side. I have seen this on Preludes, Accords, and Civic.

Come to think of it, I think a few times I've reused the Honda original snap rings since they seemed to be thicker and hug the balljoint better.

With the lowers, theres a lot of material for the balljoint to "grip" onto on the knuckle. Maybe 1.5inches so it probably doesn't need the snap ring. But with the front and rear uppers, there is only maybe 0.5inches so without something like snap rings or a design like the SPC where it sandwiches the arm, it will move around/pop out. I think all oem style uppers have the snap ring design.

[bcjammerx]

very true...didn't realize OEM replacements where made similarly.

if I could get a better snap ring it might be fine...I might just try and take the snap rings in the back arms and thin them but only a little...and then add some glue of some sort...not sure what glue...maybe get some honda bond. That's just for the rear ones though.

For the front I've already ordered spc adjustables...I wanted to wait and get those for when money wasn't as tight...but if I'm going to replace what I JUST bought then I will upgrade to something better that is more racing spec.

I won't hear from tasauto until monday of course...I don't foresee a reimbursement, and the only thing I would be happy with would be an upgrade...I don't see that happening either. I guess I wouldn't blame them either...I just wouldn't buy these no name parts from them anymore.

If they would at least stop selling the restoration kit...I can fix these bastards I bought, I just don't think anyone else should be buying them. It's under $200 but dammit...if you bought these to keep your car from falling apart and killing yourself on the interstate (a member here flipped 3x's when his 15 year old lower joints failed) and then you hit a bump and now your brand new uppers are shot and you have to cash out more...coulda spent more dough up front instead and do the job once.

One of our members posted in the group buy thread that the manufacturer is a shitty one (tasauto doesn't make them they just sell them)...but that was long after I bought mine.

[YK86]

Yeah, I totally understand where you are coming from. Crap parts that fail and may potentially kill you is not something to take lightly. I just wanted to say the snap ring style is what's used on all oem styles so I thought it was just a bit overboard to say the whole design was bad.

I've had good experiences with the Altrom and Moog balljoints/tie rods/suspension stuff. But I'd stay away from the cheap no-name brands and Beck-Arnely balljoints. Although Beck gaskets and tune up parts have been good, their lower balljoint started showing signs of play after a couple months.

BTW, I totally forgot to mention that sometimes, once you get the snap ring somewhat seated, spinning it will help it fit into the groove. If I remember right, having the gap side face the anchor bolts/towards the center of the car allows the snap ring to fit in the groove better.

[bcjammerx]

...If I remember right, having the gap side face the anchor bolts/towards the center of the car allows the snap ring to fit in the groove better.

yup...good trick to use...course I took no chances and took the broad side of a chizzle and hammered it in...it still sticks out...me no likey. But...won't have to worry much longer...spc's arrive on ...the 18th...dammit...that is long

[slammed4thgen]

moog is as good as it gets man, ask any suspension shop or anyone who knows anything about it.

i really doubt you would have the same issues with moog

[bcjammerx]

I emailed tasauto on sat (4days ago) and it's now wed...I emailed them again.


The moogs at oreilly didn't look like they had all the parts nor the instructions for them. The moog joints they had looked TOUGH as hell though!

I ordered the spc's, I've heard good things about spc...have I heard wrong?