Ball joints
Yes. Unless the ball joints have been previously replaced, they are a real chore to remove from the control arms. The factory ones are riveted in, with HUGE rivets which require a lot of drilling and grinding and pounding to remove. I opted to do the junkyard crawl and find a set of used control arms that had already had their ball joints replaced. I got the one I needed worst, but not the other side - so I have another project looming once the ice melts.
Fronts are not that bad if they have been replaced before, give yourself 2 hours per side. The rears I'm unsure of, I'm interested to find out if theyre different from the fronts, I have to do mine in the spring.
IIRC the rears are pressed in, you'll need to rent the tool.
On the fronts..lol if the rivets are still in.. plan for more than 2 hours. The beer drinking and swearing at it take nearly 2 hours all by itself. And yes..I have air tools, decent drills and a massive angle grinder.
On the fronts..lol if the rivets are still in.. plan for more than 2 hours. The beer drinking and swearing at it take nearly 2 hours all by itself. And yes..I have air tools, decent drills and a massive angle grinder.
Bob, the W body guys tend to buy new control arms from Rockauto. Comes with a balljoint, fresh bushings (which are usually up for replacement anyhow) and bolt right in. I paid around $70 each side for the Regal ones. Fresh bushings, balljoint and not having to fight... well worth it, I tell you.
On the back..they are not very common. To my knowledge they are only press in and don't have rivets, but I've never actually looked at one.
On the back..they are not very common. To my knowledge they are only press in and don't have rivets, but I've never actually looked at one.






