Ball joint replacement

[SSEi95]

The '02 SSEi needs a new front left ball joint. I haven't had a chance to look at it personally yet, but are the factory ball joints press fit or bolt in? I've helped Nate do one on his '95 way back when, but it took us 2 days with torches and air tools to get the old one out. Just want to know if this is something I want to tackle myself, or just have a shop do it and be done with it.

[Archon]

Probably not what you want to hear, but....

The ball joint is serviced only with the lower control arm and cannot be serviced separately. Refer to Lower Control Arm Replacement.

Edit - Rockauto shows them, however, and the replacements appear to be bolt in. I'd have to look at the control arm to be sure, but I think they're rivets.

Edit #2 - Best picture that I could find rather quickly. They're rivets.

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[lowrider0308]

After talking to a family friend who owns a brake/suspension shop about the riveted in lower balljoints on my truck, I think that buying new LCA's will probably save you so much time and effort that it is worth the extra cost. He said because of the extreme amount of work it takes to pry the rivets out the labor charges go sky high. He has a very large mallet and custom sized punch he uses to drive GM rivets out. He said GM truck rivets are the hardest of all the brands he has worked on. I would think this info would probably apply to the Bonneville too.

[tracerprix]

The rivets should come out easy with a air hammer with a chisel tip.

Thats how I get the upper and lower ball joints that are riveted in on my Chevy Blazer ZR2.

[Jrs3800]

After talking to a family friend who owns a brake/suspension shop about the riveted in lower balljoints on my truck, I think that buying new LCA's will probably save you so much time and effort that it is worth the extra cost. He said because of the extreme amount of work it takes to pry the rivets out the labor charges go sky high. He has a very large mallet and custom sized punch he uses to drive GM rivets out. He said GM truck rivets are the hardest of all the brands he has worked on. I would think this info would probably apply to the Bonneville too.

Yeah this would apply to the 00+ Bonneville... The Rubber bushings/Isolators get tired and also need replacement... Better off in reality to just replace the complete Lower Control Arm

[harofreak00]

Which I have many off if you are interested in a used part.

[00Beast]

I just wish these cars had grease-able ball-joints. I hate(d) not having anything to grease on these cars. At least the aftermarket tie-rod ends have zerks....

[SSEi95]

Just replaced the full lower control arm with a good ball joint with one I got from Haro. Both the new (replacement) and the old ball joints seem to be nice and tight, but the shake (vertical, not horizontal) is still there. I did look at the tie rod end as well while I was in there and that seems good still. Could it be the hub that was bad?

[SSEi95]

Just took it for a test drive, and it drives nice still. I really didn't feel any shake or anything (but what little I did could be the road, one of the poorest ones near me). I may just keep an eye on the hardware, tread wear and road feel to see if there really is a problem there or not. There is still movement in the wheel when it is jacked up, but it is still just slight movement.