ball joint

[edfitzie]

drove the car up country to a friend of mine who has a BMW dealership, for a once over before the summer. on the road the car felt a bit "floaty" , not quite planted. pulling a little to the left. theres play in the steering to the left.. ie. its slower to turn left. just had her tracking and balancing done. mechanics said tie rod ends were on the wane but would be good for another 5-10k. then they noticed a bit of play on the front right lower ball joint. everything else ok. went searching to find ball joints.. asked mark at dali.. he suggested i get 2 "knuckles".. what i'm trying to ascertain is whether the ball joint comes with the knuckle or is it attached to the lower suspension arm? both knuckles will cost $1200..
have ordered inner/outer tie dod ends and steering rack bushings..are there any other bushings etc. that i should consider replacing as i'm at it?

[Minch]

Hi,

I had the same issue with my NSX. Nearside, fron, lower balljoint was a little worn. I got a quote from Honda UK who came back with a price of £800 for each front knuckle! Sod that . . . in the end I bought a pair of knuckles from Dali. They are a lovely engineered piece of kit and I can now see why they are so much money. After much research the only solution is to replace the whole knuckle assembly.

Cheers
nathan

[NSXGB]

If you are not bothered about OEM Honda parts for the inner steering rack, pattern parts are available. A pair of inner arms is about £28. I would think you would be able to get the outers as well but have not tried.
Don't forget new locking washers for the inner arms.

The only other bushes in that area that you may want to inspect are the rack mounting bushes.

[edfitzie]

thanks guys.. will order the 2 knuckles from dali.. also tie rod ends.. steering rack bushes.. sway bar bushes and possibly chassis bars.. will post report once fitted

[NSXGB]

Inner rod ends are probably a good idea too.

[nationofzeros]

I had the same issue with the rear RHS knuckle - wear in one of the ball joints was causing the wheel housing to rotate on its axis. I had to order a complete replacement also, as there appears to be no way of specifying & retrofitting the ball joint (s) only

As part of this without going through the whole story, I now also have a brand new RHS front knuckle assembly in the garage that I do not need. The part is specified for a NA1 NSX-R but I would be amazed if it isnt exactly the same as a standard NSX component

If you are interested in it then please PM me

Chris

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, edfitzie.

How big is the play at the Front lower ball joint?

This is very common issue on our NSX and if I get 10 NSXs in one place, it is very likely that at least one of them has the same issue as yours.

You can’t feel the play unless you place your finger around the lower ball joint and put the knuckle/wheel/tyre in the air. You may hear clicking sound when driving through the bump.

If you are talking about different play, then it is not by the lower ball joint but caused by something else.

If the play is very small/tiny, you can live with it as it won’t affect the alignment.
I know several owners in Japan having exactly the same issue but driving their NSX happily without any issues. Some of them are actually track only NSX and having no issues with pre/post session alignment measurement. Some of the drivers are ex-professional and they don't complain because of this play.

Having said this, my master hates even the tiny gap and he is already on his 3rd knuckle…

If you or your mechanic has never separated the front upper/lower ball joints especially on NSX, then be prepared for the long-long day.
You don’t want to damage the upper/lower A-arm and without the proper tool, you may struggle to separate the joints without causing any damages.

6684
I won't even touch it without this type of joint separator tool but as you are replacing the knuckle and if you are happy to destroy your original one, then you may be able to separate it using different tools/method.

One of my friend had to cut the knuckle to protect the A-arm and placed the assy on 10ton press in order to separate the joint.

Good luck.

Regards,
Kaz

[edfitzie]

thanks kaz.. i'm ordering the following from dali.. inner/outer tie rod ends.. two complete knuckles.. steering rack bushes .. sway bar bushes..
is it possible to get the control arm bushes or do you have to buy the control arms complete

[edfitzie]

the play is only to the left.. ie. it turns slower to the left.. mechanic checked with his finger as you suggested.. and felt play in lower right ball joint.. he also said the tie rod end , though not gone was on the wane