[Steering & Suspension] the front ball joint recall...

[John U]

My car has 18500 miles on it. The ball joints are original and seem to be in great condition. The castle nut recall was not done.
After reading pages and pages about the DMCH "remanufactured" ball joints it leaves me wondering if I should replace the ball joints or just follow the safety recall (installing the new castle nuts, drilling holes and putting in the pins)
From what I have read, there are alot of people unhappy with the new ball joints, and even some that have actually bought NOS ones from ebay just to avoid installing the new ones.

What should I do? I am leaning toward just completing the recall procedure myself.

Thanks
John

[Elvis]

Lube them regularly and do the recall !!!!!

I had one ball joint breaking the upper part off because I installed it without
the castelled nut. My fault !
Please do yourself a favour and learn of my mistake !

I then replaced them with new DMCH units. 1-2 years later it was very hard
to drive because the balls had play, the wheels followed the tracks of the
trucks in the road. Very annoying.

I then replaced them again with NOS parts, I lube them 2-3 times a year
and they have been OK so far (3-4 years ).

[Hmm252000]

With such low mileage on your D, I wouldn't worry about replacing the ball joints (assuming there's still no play in them). Just perform the recall to insure your front end doesn't fall apart!

As for the replacement units, I'm one of those that had a new unit prematurely wear out (just a few thousand miles and it developed several mm of play inside the socket). Since this just came up in the review thread, I'll wait for DMCH to respond. Toby told me the reason for the failures in passing, so I don't want to say unless DMCH doesn't respond soon.

[John U]

Thanks,
Has anyone done the recall themselves?
I understand that when the castle nut is installed it makes a good guide for the drill bit, and the metal is fairly soft and easy to drill through...I just don't want to screw it up!

[Hmm252000]

I've done it on the upper ball joints. Once the nuts are installed, it's pretty easy to do. The castle nut does indeed guide the drill bit and it's pretty easy going (I drilled from both ends and met in the middle). Once done just insert the cotter pin. I would imagine the lower ball joints would be just as easy.

The sway bar work is pretty straight forward as well. Just unbolt, add the new brackets and bolt back up (with loctite). Torque to spec and you are set. However, I would run a thread tap through the bolt holes before adding the new hardware. Mine were really gunked up. If you damage the threads installing a new bolt while everything is clogged up, you could end up installing a helicoil!

[jtrealty]

Put the castellated nut on, torque to spec, center punch and drill. You do have to be careful not to break the drill, it is a small size and if you lean on it too hard you will bend and break the bit. Lubrication is the "secret" to longevity of the ball joints and tie rod ends. Replace the rubber seals at the first signs of cracking, tears, or cuts. I also use silicone grease on the rubber sway bar bushings. The recalls were made to be quick and easy. DMC did not want to make the job any longer or harder than it had to, it was reembursing the dealers for this and they wanted to keep the costs down. Check the inertia switch and the fan fail relay too. You may also want to do the water leak bulletin.
David Teitelbaum

[John U]

Thanks everyone
Inertia switch was done, but not sure about the others yet...

John

[Jonathan]

I'm within a couple hundred VINs of John (3937). Regarding the recall... is this the one where the last step of the recall was to paint a small red dot in the engine bay between the ballast resistor and the engine cover stay/latch? Is this a reliable way to check if the recall was done? Or is there something specific I can look at on my front suspension and see for myself if it was done?

[Hmm252000]

This is the front end recall:
http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/SC-03-1.82.html

You paint a blue dot once done, but mine had an earlier recall done and wasn't painted. The best way is to just inspect. They originally tried reinforcing the front end with another recall, but it appears it wasn't as effective. So this last one was done and replaces all the existing stuff.

You can verify it by having both cotter pins in the ball joints and the large black reinforcement plates where the sway bar meets the front frame extension. You can get a kit that includes all the brackets, nuts and bolts that's mentioned in the recall.

[jtrealty]

There was a blue dot and a red dot. I would have to look up each to tell you what each was specifically for. If you have the dot, you have the recall. Can't hurt to look underneath too! The inertia switch has a "splotch" of white paint on it if it is the non-recalled one.
David Teitelbaum