Just got these in. They are supposedly considered very good OEM replacements. Since Nissan doesn't sell them by themselves, I just thought to let you fellas know.

They sell them for 4th gen (95-99) and 5th gens (00-03)

Part #K90459 (Made in the USA)

 

Irish(i think) kept saying you couldn't replace the 5th gen balljoints...
Good thing he was wrong, save 5th genners money.

 

Yep. It beats having to replace the entire control arm from Nissan everytime.

Now the only thing is that I hope they fit

 

Well I used some replacement ones on my 4th gen, so I am sure if they have a 5th gen one they will fit.

 

I've used them many times over the years and are running them on my Max as well as Kelly's old altima.

the 3 gen max is a bolt-on replacement. for the altima, 4 and 5 gens, you have to press them out.

watch out when you press the new ones in.. on Kelly's alty, the thing started moving around a bit when she hit bumps and stuff. since I was broke and didn't want to pay to replace the ball joint (warranty I'm sure) and the control arm, I just tack welded it onto the control arm in a few places, pumped new grease in it, and it was fine from then on.

 

Why don't you have links to your webpage in your profile? I know you're a sponsor anyway.

 

Hmm, I will inspect mine when I get the car back.

 

I said 2 things, in different places:
1. it would be very difficult to replace them beacause a very large press would be needed, which most people don't ahve in their garage, from what I could see. Also, when I posted the comment that they "couldn't" be replaced, I was sitting not 2 feet from one of my old, removed control arms, which very clearly had the balljoints tack welded onto the LCA at four distinct points. I wish I had thought to take a freakin' picture for posterity
2. the other reason I said (at the time) that you couldn't replace them is that, until now, there were no known lower balljoints AVAILABLE as replacements, even if you could get the OEM ones out. We clearly now have a new situation....

In any case, a new LCA assembly is pretty freakin' inexpensive, and comes with new bushings as well (if you're not using poly), so for the "typical" maxima driver who is just looking to make their handling feel more like "new," the better option is to buy entire LCA assembly and get the new bushings and balljoints all in one.

For those (like us) who tend to thrash suspensions more often thanks to track/autocross/maniacal driving work, and have poly bushings, Larry's new balljoint availability is a great thing, though!


BTW Larry, how are the "other" projects coming along that you told me about a while back?

 

I have no links to a website because I don't have one. I have only two products for the maxima and a bunch of other ones in R&D all over my desk at work. It's a work in progress!


1. Scary thought to know that they may be tack welded on. I'll take a look tomorrow when I tackle the job. As for pressing them out, that's quite simple with a balljoint press rented from autozone (although I did this on a 4th gen).

2. I think there may be 2 different types of ball joints available for us. One listed as Japan OEM and the other is the Moog replacement

Our balljoints go through extra wear and tear with the aggressive driving and lowering of the vehicle, so hopefully these aren't super hard to replace.

The other projects are coming along. I'm building a nice little shop right now with the proper equipment, hence the delays. I have new molds made for the bushings which means I can start production fairly soon.

 

How you just gonna own me on a public forum


BTW I like those BC Coilovers...Maybe I need some

 

josh by any chance do you know how much the lower control arms are from daveb by any chance? i thought you might know before i called him and found out for myself.

 

Usually his prices are the same as the Pinnacle Nissan prices and you can look those up online.

 

Since I am looking for "inner" tie rods because firestone wanted to replace them for $220, I was on Pinnacle and saw that LCA's are $140, but I don't know what that includes

 

Tie rods are part of the steering rack not the LCA.

 

good news folks! The ball joints are not tack welded on, they press right out. I rented the ball joint press at Autozone for $107.17 dollar deposit on the tool.

Another thing that other members can try is to use the ball joint press to push out the stock LCA bushings when doing a ES bushing install. That was a thought that a friend brought up when we were working on the car.

Oh, and Kevlo:

 

IIRC they are in the 130-140 range each from Dave, plus shipping. I'm not completely sure. I actually bought mine from an org'er who never got around to using them and paid 150 shipped for the pair....his loss, my gain!

They are pretty heavy though, so shipping might be kind of pricey.

 

I think John was saying that he happened to see the LCA price while online looking for inner tie rods, not that they were related



again,

j/k haha...

 

Good stuff....I'm thinking maybe someone else tack welded my old ones on then....since I bought the car with almost 50K miles, who knows

someday.....dammit Larry, stop tempting me. I'm just about ready to do some brake upgrading and now you got me thinking of these again!!!

 

haha, no worries! I can always build a set when you need it. It's not running off anywhere!

I just wanted to show off the brand new studio pics I took of them.

 

How much are they so I can start saving

 

The LCA ball joints I got from suspension.com seem to be holding up pretty good. My old ones had the boots ripped so they were on there way out. I had a shop press out the old ones and once the LCAs were powder coated they pressed in the new ones. The cost of the sand blasting, powder coat, ES bushings, ball joints, and shop labor were a little less than the cost of a new OEM LCA.

 

Josh, Josh, Josh,
if you get coilovers for your max I will put a lot of money on it that you have no intentions of fixing your Triumphs in this decade. Plus you can no longer own people when you say you don't think your max is a sportscar because you don't have coilovers and such on it.....you know I'm right.

 

hmm, good idea on powder coating the LCA's. That would be a interesting option to do

 

IMO the final results were nice.

 

Show off

 

darn, now I have to spend more money doing this....

 

for people that are interested in how much an lca cost from daveb its around $153 dolalrs plus shipping

 

That's not too bad considering that the Moog ball joints are around $50 bucks a piece. They come with a little threaded portion at the bottom with a special joint so you can inject more grease into the ball joint

 

does that include everything like this?
ebay suspension parts

 

WTF? $139/$149? I just paid $105 +$20 shipping for my ebay lower control arms.

 

Did that include all the stuff in my link?

 

AHHH No! I didn't see the tie rod ends and sway bar links were also included, I just saw the picture on the LCA and thought that was it. Looks like it's worth the price then.

 

and i rather have oem nissan parts then aftermarket parts from ebay.

 

MOOG = good
Suburban or other large SUV + Jack = Press

I disagree, the LCAs are not part of the steering rack.

Zerk Fitting, but Matt probably calls them nipples

crappy picture


and 98SEBlackMax, nice work on that engine bay

 

Nipples + Ball Joint = me very happy!

 

I finally found the Moog at a locally owned parts store. All of the big name places couldn't get them. Thanks for all of the additional info about them.

 

yea ur ebay ones will have bad ball-joints in 2 months...i have to replace mine already....autozone had the ball-joints in stock MOOGs