Labour/book time to do all steering balljoints?

[Sibbers]

how long should it take to all 3 BJ’s on both sides?

I’m looking at this set: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263640187505

If it’s really long I may reconsider my obsession to indiscriminately replace wear and tear parts focusing just on the bottom BJ which seems to fail more often but would appreciate any comments or guidance.

Mostly, everything else has been recently removed or replaced so should come apart without cutting or drilling anything (even the pinch bolts!) unless it’s specific to these balljoints.

 

[Sibbers]

Maybe a better question would be, is it a crap load of work and should I focus on just the top/bottom balljoints, or perhaps even just the lower one on its own?

 

[ChrisLu]

it all depends ... i had my lower replaced.. could of done both so they where done as a pair but just only did the one and seems fine to me.

but later down the line would need to do the other if it starts to go.

cost & time (if you can be bothered to spend a few hours to get it all done)

 

[Sibbers]

To be fair, I think most well adjusted people only fix something that is broke so doing one side makes sense.

As far as I can tell, the top and bottom balljoints seem worth doing at the same time but I’m not sure if there’s must extra work to do the inner one. I’ll keep looking.

 

[DS197]

I know a place in Derby (Aarons autos) charge £175 per side for the lower ball joint. If it was me, i'd personally change all 3, but imo you should at the very least change them in pairs.

Then again everyone has a different approach to car repairs/preventative maintenance. If you're keeping the car do them all, if not, just replace the one but if I was a potential buyer it would put me off.

 

[Sibbers]

Funnily enough I am up for selling it, but I’ve already done loads of preventative work so it’s priced as such and I expect it’ll end up being kept.

I’m a bit OCD so I tend to just get everything straight as soon as I buy a motor, but seeing as these go and are original I want to do them whether keeping or selling. It’s a curse tbh, because nearly no-one sells a car unless there’s something wrong with it.

I’ll deffo do the top/bottom but I’m still trying to figure out exactly where that third (Suspension) ball joint goes so I’m searching for diagrams or pics.

 

[Sibbers]

I think I’ve figured it out. Doesn’t look mentally hard. I’m hoping because everything else is already done, it’ll come apart pretty easily.

Didn’t realise it was the one in the wishbone, thought that was the lower one, but I see now they’re in the hub.

Think we’re sorted.

 

[turkie172]

I would buy the ball joints direct from Raptor on the forum his lower ball joints with the boot should last longer I have fitted his lower arm ball joints there is a video of the procedure. The whole job comes down to removing the upper and lower ball joints and the tools required to do so the outer hub does not sit square on a press table so risk of cracking the casting if not paying attention the upper ball joint nut should be loosened at the start while on the car to save the trouble holding the assembly after removal and you cant get a straight go with an impact gun and the ball joint just spins . So the price of tools be it G-Clamp style or like I did stainless steel tubing and very large sockets on a floor standing press that we have in the race shop I replaced all the ball joints and lower arm bushes but used the genuine Renaultsport upper and lower ball joints only because I already had them before I knew about Raptor's stuff. So if a specialist did it and had the tools I think some do the lower ball joints for £120. I have a receipt from a Renault dealership for £600 for one side lower ball joint previous owner the bracket had to be changed as the pinch bolt stuck the dealers hands are tied to use new assembly's the pinch bolt cost £180 for the assembly as they are not permitted to heat, cut or extract the bolt. So to do the procedure it depends on the tools you have and ability and area to work in I did the left hand side in a workshop with a repaired assembly to swap in. Renault did that side 4 years ago the wheel bearing bolt torx was rung and changed the top mount that had split found a broken spring coil after putting the shock together again lucky I had a spare wheel bearing, spring and lower bracket but had to walk back to the house to get them as I discovered the problems so balls out 2 hours, 4 hour probable 5 - 6 hrs both sides just because you will find other things to check and clean along the way

 

[Sibbers]

Awesome thanks man. My pinch bolts came in and out OK when I did the shocks, but had to cut off the ARB links and the anti rotation links weren’t much fun, but did go. Hopefully the wheel bearings all good, but at 33k it should be! Will take the risk. Thanks again! And (I think) I saw your vid that was helpful (if it’s the one on YouTube).

 

[turkie172]

The pinch bolts are the button head ones that hold the lower ball joint not the one that holds the shock. The wheel bearing bolts and upper hub bolt can be loosened on the car with the wheel off before starting anything the drive shaft has to be pushed through the first time I had to buy an Hydraulic Wheel Hub Press Puller for one side the other pushed out with my thumb. Again it's the pushing out and in of the ball joints that are key, the hubs can't be held in a vice thin hollow castings easily cracked and do bend and you can't go cave man and start hitting with a hammer to knock out also the alignment fitting the new joints must be bang on or you will crack the casting it's not as forgiving as thin steel arms. The Clio 197 and 200 if your doing work around the front it is more efficient to replace everything else while doing one job than to go back a few months later to take down to the same position to do a different part replacement yes the parts are expensive but if keeping the car for a year or two its amazing how very little play in a ball joint or tie bar can make the car feel bad or average the suspension is that highly strung. I have been caught out with broken factory springs which are hard to spot with the rubber spring slap tubing fitted once the spring was broken in three pieces I felt the effect but the spacing of the coils was the only sign the second time I had compressed the spring to change the top mount and after while cleaning it up to refit I found half of the bottom coil was broken to the inside which I was lucky to spot the spring was less that 4 years from new and 16,000 miles no crazy driving either. If the car is your main transport buying a used hub assembly to refresh and swap in is a low risk minimum time off the road way to see if you can do it.

 

[Sibbers]

This is excellent info, and thanks for the correction on the pinch bolt - that could have been a pain.

Will need to find replacements for that purpose, and will avoid use of a vice or smashing with hammers.

Thanks a lot

 

[Sibbers]

Well, you were right that it was a pain and right on all other counts tbh. Ended up giving it to a garage and all sorted but needed a new wishbone on the drivers side (kerching!) to get it done in time and they needed the spare bolts I wouldn’t have got without your reply too.

Handling seems tighter and improved more than I expected- I thought it was decent before, so that’s a pleasant outcome.