Front lower Ball Joints

[jgmsail]

So I have replaced the upper and lower A-arms and put new koni shocks on my 77 spider. Installed new tires and the tire shop told me the ball joints were bad, I went and looked and sure enough you can physically see it move. Called and got new ones, just pulled them out of the box to put on the car yesterday after pulling the old ones off and they too are bad, you can move them just holding them in your hand, the upper ones you could not move at all. So the question is where can I get good tight lower ball joints that have been crimped properly. I don't want to bash anyone but just want good ball joints to install. At this point my mechanic and I are getting good at changing them. Thanks

JG

[vandor]

We carry Italian made balljoints, never had a problem.

[DieselSpider]

Call the vendor that you bought them from and tell them the set you received are defective. Otherwise you should be able to get them from just about any local parts store.

Advance Auto lists the Lowers from Moog, Beck & Arnley and Rare Parts while Oreily has the upper and lowers from Import Parts (Lifetime Warranty), Beck & Arnley (One Year Warranty) and Rare Parts (Lifetime warranty but at twice the cost). NAPA also carries a pretty full selection of suspension components for the Spider at very competitive prices especially those from OCA which have proven to be of decent quality.

Buying them locally picked up at the counter you have the opportunity to inspect them before accepting them. Oreilly for example when you order them in person at the counter generally does not require any payment up front either so there is no up-front cost while waiting for the parts to come in and generally in my area they get what I need by end of day or the next regular business day so on a Saturday if you don't get the order in before the truck leaves the central warehouse for the Saturday noon drop you have to wait until Monday. Based on product range Oreilly and NAPA are the two best choices for a local source of suspension parts.

I support the on-line vendors/forum sponsors for parts I can't get locally with a lifetime replacement warranty however for stuff that wears out and will eventually need replacement a locally sourced lifetime part will be what I look for first.

[vandor]

A lifetime warranty does not automatically mean the product is good quality, it often means they are buying them cheap enough to be able to replace it a few times before the car gets sold or is taken off the road. I quit using Autozone starters/alternators 15 years ago because they failed so often. Sure, they replced it for free, but I had to have the car towed home and then lost half a day replacing a part. And if it's a customer's car they want you to do it for free too! No thanks.

[DieselSpider]

A lifetime warranty does not automatically mean the product is good quality, it often means they are buying them cheap enough to be able to replace it a few times before the car gets sold or is taken off the road. I quit using Autozone starters/alternators 15 years ago because they failed so often. Sure, they replced it for free, but I had to have the car towed home and then lost half a day replacing a part. And if it's a customer's car they want you to do it for free too! No thanks.

I quit on AutoZone years ago too since their remans were spotty so I usually just don't mention them.