Bottom ball joints

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kieran325
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Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:36 pm

Ive got a 318 tourer, its my runaround, its not fancy nor is it flash but it does the job. Ive had it 2yrs and its never let me down and it just keeps going, its never wanted for anything either :)

Ive just had a blast down the motorway and i felt/heard a clunking noise from the NSF. Got home and had a look about, i wiggled the wheel and it felt loose, i checked the wheel nuts but tight as they should be.

Could it be the bottom ball joints or the wheel bearing ?

Ive not had to chance to investigate further as its not stopped raining for the last 2hrs :(
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Brianmoooore
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Thu Jul 05, 2007 7:02 pm

Wheel bearing gives a rumbling noise normally. Most likely to be a bottom ball joint or track rod end.
lovett
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Thu Jul 05, 2007 7:34 pm

bottem ball joint on the wishbone arm i got the same problem :D
kieran325
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:12 am

lovett wrote:bottem ball joint on the wishbone arm i got the same problem :D
Is it an easy fix and how much for the part itself ??

Thanks by the way :D
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Brianmoooore
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:50 am

Ball joint on its own is something like £9, IIRC, but it needs to be pressed in and out.
Easiest is to replace the whole control arm, which comes complete with the two ball joints, which will then require a new control arm bush as well.
This will be about £50's worth or so of parts from GSF/Eurocarparts.
It's recommended that you change the control arm bush on the other side of the car at the same time, and checking the tracking afterwards is a good idea as well!
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