ball joint
 

First Off, I tried the search button, found a million and one "why is my car creaking?"s and pple having different sugestions as to why.

I finnally got pissed with the sound and went to the shop that did the lowering kit install, figuring it was related to that because the noise began right after. Had to wait two hours till someone got a chance to get in my car and drive it, I chose to be a pain in the ass and rode with him. As soon as he made a slow turn out of the parking spot, he admitted out loud somthings wrong (this shop is particulary good about honest what you needs and what you dont). We got back and put the car up on the lift and he started jerking and turning things with me watching. We also checked the strut positotioning, they didnt mix them up. In the end the problem was identified as the ball joint. (also come to find out the entire front driverside is from a salvage yard)

First thing i did was get a quote from them and drove it home to be parked(:cry: im miss my alero already driving a hundya sucks :cry: )
1. Called Autozone, one part mentioned for 46.99 instock
2.Went to Kitrells, HERES MY POINT they had 4 available 2 for 56 and 57, 2 for 92 and 93, both brands specified that one was specifically for the aluminum control arms and the other was for iron control arms WTF!!!!!!! (need help here)
3.Napa has one for 40.00

Local mechanic install 40 or 50 depending on if it has to be pressed in?
The shops cost with parts and labor 120

Is this aluminum or iron an issue anyones encountered or is familair with. Im figureing 20 extra for the shop to do it and garantee the work for a while is the best option, i just need to know if i need to let them know about this or if it is even an issue.
The control arm on this corner appears to be iron, as determined by a magnet

ummm i would just have a professional take care of it. sucks to hear the driver's side of your car is salvage. but i would take it to a shop you trust and have em do it, you know its going to get done right.

thatd be 120 which is probably what i'm gonna do, im just need to know if these different metals is gonna be an issue after all

If you plan on keeping your Alero, get a more expensive balljoint. If you plan to sell it in a year or two, get a cheaper one.

Balljoints are a wear item, and will eventually bite the dust, but you get to determine the approximate life-space of it.

apparently aftermarket ones have grease fittings so they last longer then stock to begin with

i would get the shop to do it. bringing your own parts is an ahoe thing to do, and it also shorts you of your warranty. A shop wont warranty it at all if you bring your own, and some may even will jack up labor b/c you are cutting into their profit margin.

Also, whenever a customer brings us their own parts, 100% of the time, the parts are dirt-cheap, shitty parts that i would NEVER buy. And if the part fails, you pay labor again to rip the thing back out. haha!

If you are wanting a deal on suspension parts but still want SOME quality.. look into Raybestos service grade (aka red box parts)

yep, those are what i have, some moog specials with greas fitting, which are mated to some aftermarket tubular control arms....

All I can say is that when it comes to car parts,

Usually, You get what you pay for.

No no I'm very versed in this my fam ran a boat trailer repair shop, I was just wanting to know if this aluminum or iron thing os an issue

You can add rease fittings to your stock ones.. drill/tap a hole, and screw the fittings in. Done.

honestly I thought all the control arms were Aluminum. never knew of iron ones. They did have like any years with those part numbers, did they? This is something interesting.

I am sure that the ball joints aren't really interchangeable but due to lack of knowledge on this topic and can't give you a intelligent answer.

Keep us posted on what you find out.

Not iron, but stamped steel. '99 was the only year for aluminum.

well im assuming mine is iron hence a magnet held to it

Drime effing mage, I got the bill from the shop effers blind sided me 180 dollars, now most the noise is gone, but the loud pop that concerned me most is still there.
Let me see if I can provide some more clues to you guys.
The sound occurs usually while turning the wheel extreme degrees at idleing or almost no speed. It isn't at the end of the turn or the beginning. It usually pops somewhere towards the middle of the turn. its not aways when then well is being turned, it happens some times when it is straitening back out

Drime effing mage, I got the bill from the shop effers blind sided me 180 dollars, now most the noise is gone, but the loud pop that concerned me most is still there.
Let me see if I can provide some more clues to you guys.
The sound occurs usually while turning the wheel extreme degrees at idleing or almost no speed. It isn't at the end of the turn or the beginning. It usually pops somewhere towards the middle of the turn. its not aways when then well is being turned, it happens some times when it is straitening back out

Upper strut mount is shot.

Bingo!! when you lower a car you have to replace the upper strut plate, while the shop has it apart have them slip on the new one and that will make the poping noise go away...(most of the time)

i got lucky with mine when i lower my car.. a long time ago..:coolio:

good luck..

you mean the boot that the strut attaches too, that then bolts to the tower, why and how would that get shot, and why only on one side

The upper strut mount has a large ball bearing that gets sandwiched between the top of the spring and the bottom of the metal plate that bolts to the car's body. This allows the bottom of the strut to rotate with the knuckle when steering, but the top doesn't since it's fixed the body.

These ball bearings get water in them and rust out sometimes, and won't rotate freely. Simple as that. The other side may not have gotten water in it, who knows, it could be on its way out, too.

The popping you hear is the spring getting tension trying to turn, then when it finally goes "pop" it just did turn like it was trying to.

You just gotta pull the strut, compress it (if you don't wanna die), remove the nut from the top, pull off everything above the strut and replace it, put it all back together and back onto the car.

just to clarify, the red or the green?

The bearing's prolly between those two halves, just go to NAPA or where ever you prefer for parts and ask for the upper strut mount bearing part, they'll give you what you need.

are you familair with set ups in general or this setup specificaly, ive had this apart myself, and do not remember any such part, i though you may have meant if was inside the rubber or the red circle

There should be a bolt in the middle hole there on the top. Take that off and the whole piece should come off. Not sure if that requires you to compress the spring or not, I would verify that one for sure.

Just in general. I guarantee there is SOME sort of bearing. All McPhearson struts have them. I've had the struts apart on the Alero before, but that was like 3 years ago just changing springs so I don't remember specifically which part houses the bearing.

Also, you will want to compress them in some way. Otherwise as soon as the nut comes off it could get ugly. Plus to put them back together you'll need the spring compressed down.

im thinking of using the compressing device and really trying to torque the nut down farther, afraid of getting it too tight though, could it be to tight?

the strut plate is the one in green is the one you bolt to the strut tower..

that is a bearing for the strut to turn as clutch1 said...

Imo just wear on the plate cause it to got bad...

hope this helps.

yes dear god compress it and dont ever undo that thing untill the strut is off and compressed

Why? Tightening it slightly won't solve your problem. You need a new bearing.

maybe its just not tight enough, could some one take a pic of how much thread they have showing?

I agree. Still sounds like a problem with the upper strut mount and the bearings in there. How confident are you with the mechanics at this shop?
I hope you didn't replace the ball joints for no reason.

How aggressive do you drive?
My car is lowered with aftermarket struts and rides stiff as hell. I drive pretty hard, and screw around on tracks with friends every so often. I'm in need of my third strut mount (popping noise) since I lowered it 15k ago and I've just attributed it to hard driving on a stiff suspension.

Well the spring is enacting prolly a couple hundred pounds of force pushing up on the plate it rests on, which in turn presses on the nut. I don't think that's the case.


Also, Thor, since I put air ride on my car my upper plates have also been deteriorating. The rubber bushing is starting to bulge out the top... prolly not so good.. they ride stiff as hell so I'm assuming it certainly does do a number on a car to have stiff springs/airbags/ etc.

I drive pretty reasonably 6 otta 7 days a week, and the lower one was effed up

My struts creak when turning usually day after driving through rain wet roads then go quiet another day later, weird its like the water drives out the lube then it dries up and then finally driving around again loosens them up and the wearing metal acts as lube? Weird if you ask me but its been doing this since maybe a year after I bought the car 7 or 8 years ago!