Aftermarket lower ball joints - avoid?

mattyprice4004 · 25 May 2010 at 19:41

Just a quick one, have been pricing up a set of lower ball joints for the 620ti and several options are available.

Do I:

- Get unbranded ones from Euro Car Parts, at £17 / pair
- Get Quinton Hazell ones from Buy Parts By, £20 / pair
- Get some Lemforder ones from Euro Car Parts, £30 / pair
- Or get some direct from MG Rover, at £42 / pair?

I have seen what happens when one fails, and at 130k I'm trying to replace everything that could break, the dust covers on the lower ball joints are shot and so will have started to wear.

Thoughts?

commited · 25 May 2010 at 19:59

Any decent deals on fleabay?

I've used aftermarket balljoints loads of times with great results.

I always put them in a drill and lap them into the cup using some valve lapping paste. If you don't do this, they will require adjustment when they lap themselves in.

Dogbreath · 25 May 2010 at 20:24

Lemforder should be fine, QH is a bit variable in quality IME and unbranded ones could be made of chocolate. A friend of mine fitted a new set of unbranded bottom balljoints to his Clio 16v Tarmac rally car (from loacl motor factors), and one of them was so knackered after 4 or 5 stages he was fighting to keep the car in a straight line. The ball had obviously not been hardened properly and had seriously worn in what was probably no more than 20 miles use (albeit quite hard use!).

Someone on Locostbuilders had a balljoint completely fall apart due to the same issue.

Dogbreath · 25 May 2010 at 20:27

commited said:
I always put them in a drill and lap them into the cup using some valve lapping paste. If you don't do this, they will require adjustment when they lap themselves in.

They are not adjustable (at least none that I have seen). They are always stiff when new, but loosen up quickly as the surfaces bed in.

Personally I think this is an extremely bad idea, any grinding paste left in will destroy it very quickly.

mattyprice4004 · 25 May 2010 at 20:44

The ones I'll be getting will be sealed and are press fitted, no grinding necessary.

Good job I asked, as I was going to get QH ones!

So Lemforder are decent then?

TaKeN · 25 May 2010 at 20:56

Lemforder are the dogs danglys IIRC

commited · 25 May 2010 at 23:56

Dogbreath said:
They are not adjustable (at least none that I have seen). They are always stiff when new, but loosen up quickly as the surfaces bed in.

Personally I think this is an extremely bad idea, any grinding paste left in will destroy it very quickly.

Seems like I have misunderstood the type of balljoint that is used on the 620ti though, seeing as they are pressed and pre-sealed. In that event, I'd go for a reputable brand, might as well spend the extra when it's only a few £ in the difference!

I probably shouldn't have used the word adjust, rather re-shim.

The lapping tip above was given to me by one of the top classic modifiers in Ireland, that's what he does and what he has always done all without any problems or complications. He prepares race and rally cars as well as everyday road going cars.

Firestar_3x · 26 May 2010 at 09:21

TaKeN said:
Lemforder are the dogs danglys IIRC

Yes, they make top quality parts.

Dogbreath · 26 May 2010 at 10:19

commited said:
Seems like I have misunderstood the type of balljoint that is used on the 620ti though, seeing as they are pressed and pre-sealed. In that event, I'd go for a reputable brand, might as well spend the extra when it's only a few £ in the difference!

I probably shouldn't have used the word adjust, rather re-shim.

Ahh, you mean the ball joints that e.g. minis use?

bledd · 26 May 2010 at 12:47

What is the general opinion on Euro Car Parts ?

The gf's old Fiesta is going in for a full service soon, I figured I'd buy all the replaceable items from their site for it..

Matt82 · 26 May 2010 at 13:12

theyre fine, go on their site, get the part numbers of the bits you want and off you go. they do loasd of brand name parts etc

Jez · 26 May 2010 at 13:15

I find ECP absolutely excellent, almost always the cheapest place to get things, very quick and accurate delivery. No complaints at all.

Matt82 · 26 May 2010 at 13:20

im not a fan of Bosch filters, but apart from that i wouldnt complain about much. their range of oil could be better but i get all sorts from there

commited · 26 May 2010 at 19:19

Dogbreath said:
Ahh, you mean the ball joints that e.g. minis use?

Yup!

numnutz · 26 May 2010 at 19:45

rover416i said:
- Get some Lemforder ones from Euro Car Parts, £30 / pair

Never had any issues with Lemforder stuff.

I like EuroCarParts quite a lot recently, not for their budget stuff, but for the reasonable pricing on better quality stuff, especially at the moment on Pagid stuff. A nice website too, that's tons better than their rival GSF.

ganesh · 26 May 2010 at 19:51

Jez said:
I find ECP absolutely excellent, almost always the cheapest place to get things, very quick and accurate delivery. No complaints at all.

Yep very good website, except that they won't deliver to any other address other than home. Quite inconvenient really.

Stormster · 27 May 2010 at 00:53

MILES better than GSF's website so I purely use ECP instead now.

Pagid brakes uber cheap... I paid 79 quid for back discs, pads and a rear caliper for my Golf Turbo and STILL gonna get £20 cash back when I return my old caliper in exchange! Ridiculously cheap for branded stuff IMO.