Ball Joints: How to Check for Wear

The ball joint is a critical safety component of the suspension in all modern vehicles. It happens to be one of the most overlooked items as well, because the methods to check the ball joint for wear and play vary greatly by the design of the suspension.

Here I cover how to properly check ball joints found in two popular suspension designs: the MacPherson system found in most light-duty passenger vehicles, and the double ball-joint setup found on trucks and SUVs.

If you find a loose ball joint, replace it!

Enjoy!
Ivan

[F.Krueger-csvk]

2 types of front suspension systems. Suspension system 1 has a preloaded "upper ball" joint. To check ball joint wear, place jack under center of cross member. Lift vehicle up so front wheel is off ground 2 or 3 inches clearance. Use a long pipe or what ever is available approx 4 or 5 foot long. Place under front wheel, lift up/down gently check/feel upper ball joint movement. Maybe get a friend to lay under vehicle with a torch help with diagnosis. Replace if any movement. Suspension system 2 has a preloaded "lower ball" joint. Check lower ball joint wear, place jack under lower control arm as close as possible to the ball joint. Complete same procedure as already mentioned. As rule of thumb, preloaded ball joint usually always wear first. The reason is because there are 2 opposing forces at play working against "loaded ball: joint. There's the spring pushing down wards & there's the weight of the vehicle on the ground pushing the ball joint upwards. A tip for ball joints that are in good working order with no grease nipple. You can purchase a hypodermic needle with a grease nipple on one end. Insert into your grease gun, push needle into rubber boot gently pump with grease till boot is firm. Do over grease as you can damage the boot & when you remove needle, grease will squirt out of needle puncture hole in the boot. Remember to place jack stands under vehicle as jacks can fail/collapse. Good luck folks with your front end diagnosis/repairs. 👍🏻👌🏻 cheers from 🇦🇺

[crisp]

This is a very good explanation of how/when the baljoints are loaded, off loaded. Thank you!!

[Aguakangenchicago]

Thank you so much for your video I knew you had something going here, so I kept watching until the minute 19:00 where you show the ball joint free play or movement, ... incredible information!

Love it, ...Thanks!

[mikechainz]

Another excellent video Ivan! I've been a mechanic for over 15 years and I agree with all of your information in this video ...
as a matter of fact this is the best breakdown I've ever seen great job as always !!!!
Pine Hollow Diagnostics

[ejay]

THIS needs to be the top search result on checking ball joints! I'm just starting out learning my own car and every video on here is like "just wiggle it". I'm glad I kept digging.

[charleypalacios]

Good job Macgyver in explaining the laws of physics to consider when trying to properly diagnose faulty ball joints. Excellent!

[somerandomguy]

Excellent demonstration, often overlooked ball joints are a wear component, great video Ivan as always

[curtgirardin]

Ivan, I watch a lot of videos from you, scannerdanner, and sma. Today, I was looking for a video on how to test for bad ball joints,

Most of the videos out there are somewhat model specific, or worse, imply one way to test is good for ALL vehicles.

So I was looking specifically for something that explained different types of suspension systems and how to test them.

When I finally found your video among the sea of ball joint inspection videos, I knew you would show what I was looking for, and you didn't disappoint.

And now it doesn't matter what vehicle I'm looking at. Now I can figure out how to support it to test the ball joints properly. Thank you thank you thank you.

Best ball joint inspection video on YouTube, in my opinion.

[pritchyHD]

Great video my man. I’m a VW master technician and been in the game over 20years. I always watch you and south main auto videos as in my opinion you both are excellent mechanics and really help the DIY people out. Well done on taking the time out of your days to teach people. I’ve been out of the spanner game quite a bit as one of the 2 MT at my VW dealership as all my work tends to be the electric side that the fitters in the shop either can’t diagnose or need to warranty. My 2 favourite channels on YouTube. Well done 👍

[MegaGeorge]

My brand new 98 Dodge Durango had 25, 000 miles on it when both upper and lower ball joints were way out of spec. on play. The Dodge tech had the Durango up on the lift, checking the ball joint play with his dial indicator with the tires hanging. This kept the ball joints loaded and falsified his indicator test. I could see the test through the waiting room window into the garage. It had the torsion bar suspension like that Chevy. I told the service advisor that the tech was doing the test wrong. But he didn't agree.

So I had to take my Durango to another Dodge Dealer in another town. This dealership diagnosed the ball joint problem correctly by jacking the lower control arm and then testing the unloaded ball joints with the Durango on the ground. They then replaced both upper and lower ball joints.

After a year, these stock Chrysler ball joints had to be replaced again due to excessive wear. I took the Durango to a repair station (Sullivan Tire) and they replaced the bad Chrysler ball joints with MOOG life time ball joints. I never had this problem since then.

Chrysler has had this systemic ball joint problem since the 60's and did nothing to correct it. Only after market ball joints solved the problem.

[Stover]

Wow that is very helpful never understood this for modern cars

[davidhall]

Thanks for this important tutorial. I now know how to properly check the Ball Joints on our German and American vehicles. You're a life saver!

[petrocksgarage]

Great explanation, demo & diagrams. Most people forget about the sway bar's effect on the system.

[wysetech]

Very good subject, Ivan. There are a lot of people who don't check Ball Joints properly.

[thebigmacd]

Many cars with MacPherson strut suspensions don't unload the ball joints when hanging, because the inner bushings hold the control arm up against the hub. You have to use a pry bar to try to split the ball joints apart for testing. Older Volvos for example aren't supposed to have their inner control arm bolts tightened until the full weight of the car is on the suspension. This means when the strut is hanging the control arm is trying to return to level, often quite strongly.

[johnnyarmstrong]

Thanks for detailed description. I had a double wishbone system come apart without apparent noise warning. Thanks for explanation. J

[int]

Even alignment shops in our area seem to underestimate the importance of ball joints in vehicle alignment. We had a Jeep Cherokee come into the shop with severe front end damage. The alignment shop was all over the engine cradle and frame to blame for the out of alignment on the vehicle. But a close visual inspection of the lower ball joint revealed that it was bent a few millimeters. The alignment shop was even trying to shift the cradle to get the alignment. Lesson learned: even a very small deviation in the lower ball joint can cause alignment issues.

[konquerorx]

Thanks for this video sir! I've been basically branding, all ball joint diagnosis with the same brush. Clearly, a wrong approach on my side.

I'm grateful these videos Ivan. Thanks for your help

[ronaldcach]

THANKS, You cleared a lot of questions I had, on the different suspensions. For checking ball joints. THANKS FRIEND

[eventu]

Very good and scientific method and display. Awesome!!!
I had replace my front shocks by a TIRE PLUS shop here in Miami, FL and they did not even point out the left Motor Mount, left lower Ball Joint and Stabilizer Bar links and Bushings that need replacement on my 114k plus 2009 2WD 1500 Z85 v8 Chevy . Now, ...finding your Channel here just re assured my hunch of feel, hearing noises experience as a self repairs of my vehicles since 1980s.
This was very good and re assuring have Chevy Silverado for such a long time now. thank you and yes i just Subscribe to your channel.