• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Telling a worn out Ball Joint???

N

NothernMystique

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
129
Location
Toronto, Canada
I've been suffering the mystery clunk for several weeks now, and last night I got the car up on jack stands....Finally

ON inspections of my 99 Mystique 2.5l MTX I was unable to definitively locate the source of the noise. I wound up taking the original passenger side ball joint out (that was a major PITA, the control arm had to come out) but after I took the ball joint out, I noticed there was a tiny bit of play (up and down) the ball and socket aspect was really easy to move around, not like the replacement which is quite stiff.

Can anyone tell me how to really tell if a ball joint is failing (the 12 - 6 rocking yielded no noticeable results)

I have not driven it yet... maybe this afternoon. I did notice on the drivers side control arm the bushing doesn't seem to reach the top of the connection portion of the sub frame. Could this cause clunking??

I'm taking the kids to swimming, so I'll read the replys later, thanks
 
My drvers side has some slop in it aswell .. over bigger bumps it is fine .. and there is no slop in the steering that i can feel .. but over small sharp joins in the road it sounds like garbage (and has gotten worse in the last 2 weeks)

I was in on the end links group by so when i get those ill get the car up on the jacks and see if i can figure out what is going on

from the drivers seat it feels like it is really low in the front corner of the car
 
ball joints are supposed to have some flex, if you could move the thing back and forth with one finger putting little to no force at all on it, then your ball joint is bad. Otherwise a little bit of give really isnt a big deal.

In my experience, the number 1 reason for a suspension clunk in the front is either a strut, or a tie rod end, or a sway bar link, so I just replace all 3 :D Its also depressing how many parts companies out there make junk replacement suspension components, when I got my car it had new tie rod ends on it, which were already loose and not "alignable" so I replaced them with some spicer ones from Murray's 8 months later, they are bad again :mad: same thing happened on my 99 SE.

the only suspension components I found cheap that have lasted are my sway bar links. Whop de do.
 
Make sure you check your springs also. I had clunking in the front and rear. After inspection, I found out the springs were cracked. Replaced rear springs and struts and the rear clunk is gone. Fronts next.
 
NothernMystique said:
I've been suffering the mystery clunk for several weeks now, and last night I got the car up on jack stands....Finally

ON inspections of my 99 Mystique 2.5l MTX I was unable to definitively locate the source of the noise. I wound up taking the original passenger side ball joint out (that was a major PITA, the control arm had to come out) but after I took the ball joint out, I noticed there was a tiny bit of play (up and down) the ball and socket aspect was really easy to move around, not like the replacement which is quite stiff.

Can anyone tell me how to really tell if a ball joint is failing (the 12 - 6 rocking yielded no noticeable results)

I have not driven it yet... maybe this afternoon. I did notice on the drivers side control arm the bushing doesn't seem to reach the top of the connection portion of the sub frame. Could this cause clunking??

I'm taking the kids to swimming, so I'll read the replys later, thanks
Click to expand...

On the MacPherson strut setup, I've had many cars including my own contour. Have no play in the 12-6 test. However move on to the 9-3 o'clock (used for tie rod, inner tie testing) and feel movement only to find it's the ball joint kicking in and out.
 
I'm in on the group buy too.

I'm in on the group buy too.

the mad newfie said:
My drvers side has some slop in it aswell .. over bigger bumps it is fine .. and there is no slop in the steering that i can feel .. but over small sharp joins in the road it sounds like garbage (and has gotten worse in the last 2 weeks)

I was in on the end links 'group by' too, so when i get those ill get the car up on the jacks and see if i can figure out what is going on

from the drivers seat it feels like it is really low in the front corner of the car
Click to expand...

I can see the springs (H&R) are in good shape, so are the Koni's (btw, I had my rear pass side burst, and Koni replaced it under lifetime warranty-cool) The ball joint flits back and forth with the greatest of ease. I'm assuming it is bad.

I'll take it out for a road test later today, and post how it feels.

Thanks for the reply's
 
I takes a bit of pressure when BJ's are brand new to move it around it's pocket. Of course the more it's worn the easier it will be to move. You definately should be able to wiggle it around it's pocket.
 
todras said:
I takes a bit of pressure when BJ's are brand new to move it around it's pocket. Of course the more it's worn the easier it will be to move. You definately should be able to wiggle it around it's pocket.
Click to expand...

I love new balljoints because at first they dont wanna move at all and you get to apply force and feel the "pop" and they move just fine afterwards. Its just one of those sick automotive things. I used to do it to all the balljoints I sold to customers without even caring if they wanted to do it when they got home.
 
todras said:
:confused: All you do is take a cutting wheel and grind a + in each rivet. Grab an air chisel and pop the top of the rivet off. Take a 5 lb. hammer and bang it off. Bolt in a new aftermarket BJ.
Click to expand...

Like todd says, its a lot easier then it looks. you are way better off just getting a new ball joint if your control arm is still good.

I think rock auto sells them for like $12 each for a good one.
 
I should have said...

I should have said...

AliasJerk said:
Like todd says, its a lot easier then it looks. you are way better off just getting a new ball joint if your control arm is still good.

I think rock auto sells them for like $12 each for a good one.
Click to expand...

I know, I know, I don't have a lift, and I was not interested in trying to do this under the car. I should have said it was a major PIMLA (...my lazy...) I did just that, grind a + and hammer the buggers out. It was not all that hard, I just would have preferred to unbolt 3 bolts on a replacement ball joint.

The old ball joint was floating around like a cheap joystick, so it was bad.

I still have a lot of clunking. So, I'm in on the swaybar links GB, and I guess I'll be looking at tie rod ends. Now the stangkiller LCA's are looking very interesting...

I'll be looking for them on the classifieds

Have a look at my LCA bushing on the drivers side..
 

Attachments

  • P5080033.JPG
    P5080033.JPG
    89.5 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top