Ball joint longevity

[David]

A little while back (in terms of miles, about 32k miles) I replaced the ball joints in our 05 Honda Odyssey (which we have owned since new). At the time, the van had a little over 200k miles on it, and the bushings on the lower control arms were in rough shape, so I replaced them (have to replace the whole control arm, which includes the bushings and lower ball joint) – I used an aftermarket brand (which has a good reputation and lifetime warranty) and 32k miles later, both ball joints were completely trashed – when on the car, I could move the steering knuckle up off the control arm a good 1/4″ or more with little effort. Once I removed them, they would literally rattle all around. The OEM ones I removed were a little floppy, but nothing like that, and they had over 200k miles on them! The control arms were replaced under warranty, and changing them out is relatively easy, so no harm, no foul I guess.

Now – shortly after I installed the first set of replacements, we had a remanufactured transmission put in the van (more than I can do in my garage without a lift, I am afraid – plus, while most remanufactured transmissions come with a warranty, they need to be professionally installed, so that’s what I did) – after we got the van home with the new transmission, I noticed the boots were split on both joints – I called the shop, and they immediately ordered new OEM ones and replaced them for us, so off we went.

I don’t know how they removed the ball joints, but based on the split boots, I would guess with a pickle fork (which is what I do, but generally speaking when I have done it, the joints are getting replaced so I don’t care if I do damage to the boot, etc.) – could that have damaged the ball joints? I have a hard time thinking that both control arms were defective (both sides were totally trashed – no difference), but could that have been the case?

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

The life expectancy of ball joints is dependent on some factors:

Road conditions
Driving habits
Maintenance
Quality of the joint.

I just replaced both upper and lower ball joints in my 2002 vehicle @ 86,000 miles.
I attribute age as the main cause of failure not mileage.

So a vehicle that always sees smooth roads, has their joints greased when required would tend to have me believe they would last longer than a set that saw pot holes and poor road conditions and were never serviced.

As to your damaged boots…
A pickle fork may well have been used.
Rather than swinging a hammer and possibly missing and causing other damage, and not to forget a shop will attempt to do the job ASAP, so I can see where a pickle fork and arm hammer would be a viable way to get the job done quickly.

[Author]

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