That Damn Noise!

So after replacing the springs I still had the same 'crack' or 'pop' noise on the front passenger side.
At the show in Daytona I was able to reproduce the noise for the 'Buick Guys'
We could not see anything moving, but could 'feel' the noise was more prevalent in the lower ball joint.
So that weekend I picked up new lower ball joints and rented the ball joint press from Autozone.

Monday night I started....No turning back at this point












The lower joint separated from the spindle with ease.  But the upper was a pain in the ...you know what.  But eventually I prevailed and it separated.  I grabbed the bottom joint, it was stiff, and not smooth but didn't seem too bad.  But when I moved the upper... I knew I found my problem...  Listen to this...



So guess what..... off to Autozone to get the upper ball joints too.  They had them in stock!

The upper joint is bolted in, was easily removed and replaced.  Here's the new one.











But the lower, is pressed into the lower control arm.  The press I rented was not quite big enough to fit over the receiver tubes on both sides but I managed to get the old out and new in by pressing directly on the joint casing with a small piece of steel between the joint and the press.

Here's the new lower one installed.

I inspected both joints once I had them off the car.  The lower joint did not have much grease in it at all.  And the upper had none in it!!!   Here you can see inside the grease nipple hole, and its dry in there. 














So.  To make sure there was enough grease in each joint, I went and bought a grease gun and gave each joint (new on passenger side and old-new on the drivers side) a good dose of grease.

Then came the test drive.  Picture it, my neighborhood, perfect weather, 70°, sunny, windows down, wonderful 455 rumble, arm out the window, people looking at you as you drive by..... and no suspension noise!!

Finally I have succeeded.