Well I was having some rattling going on and my friend said I need new shocks and struts so I'm going to buy some but earlier we were driving and he said I probably need new ball joints too and I was wondering if it's possible to replace just the ball joints or if I need the whole control arm.

 

Before you just go buying parts off of noises you hear when driving, it is best to put the car in the air and take a look at what is going on. There are a lot of reasons for noise so you don’t want to go spending money on parts you might not even need. Are you on stock suspension currently or have you made modifications (e.g. lowering springs), how many miles are on your suspension components?

Things to check with your dampers....essentially their job is to keep your springs under control, without them you’d just bounce around wildly. You can jounce the suspension while parked to better observe how well your dampers are working. Then with the car up safely on jack stands you can grab your wheel and try to shake it both horizontally and vertically looking for any excessive play. Take the wheel off and see if your dampers are leaking, look over all the bushings and ball joints for excessive play, worn rubber, tears, etc. You can also look at your steering rack and tie rods.

I don’t think that the ball joints themselves can be replaced, it requires a whole new arm. The upside there is that if the ball joint is shot then the bushings in the control arm are likely not great either so a new arm gets you everything.

 

I've got 25mm wheel spacers in the back. Plan on getting 20s for the front. We actually replaced the front driver's side wheel bearing about 5 months ago. Suspension is stock. My car Cameh 19 inch oem wheels I ordered new wheels and tires that should be here Wednesday and they are 17 inch, so I'm planning on lowering springs with that. In the future I'd like Hotchkis sway bars but that's a ways off. As far as I know the nothing has been changed. I got the car at 87k and it's at 94k now. I had a spin out awhile ago. Nothing seriously damaged except a bent wheel that was fixed. I would guess it was hell on the suspension though, car ended up in an area more suited for a rock crawling Jeep.

 

Update. I've been to 2 mechanics and my friend has given his opinon. First mechanic said I needed new shocks and struts, second said nothing is wrong just blamed aftermarket wheels (they were pretty cheap, g line alloys)., My friend thinks I need new struts, ball joints, and tie rod ends. The problems I'm having are excessive vibration in the floor and sometimes the steering wheel around 75-90 mph. Rattling in the front of the car when driving.

 

Unless your friend is doing actual diagnostics I wouldn't listen to a word he says. Vibration in the steering wheel could be anything from a bent wheel, to an unbalanced wheel, and more. Shocks and struts likely are NOT a cause for that.

 

Hows it ride without the spacers? I tired some 5mms up front and the shaking was so bad that I will not even consider them any more. It was whole car shaking, not just in the steering wheel.

 

The spacers were fine. I had them for about 2 months with stock wheels, mine came with 19s vs the 17s I have now. I got them from z1. I originally had some $40 wheel spacers and they made my car shake a lot so I took them off. These were $120 and I think it was worth it.

 

Any vibes with the stock wheels? Were your 17's brand new when you got them?

 

No problems with stock wheels, I could go 120mph with no shaking. Bought the 17s brand new with new tires as well. Continental extreme contact.