Just tossing some ideas around, I know they team up with prothane for poly bushings, I have their sway bars..

I also heard Prothane bushings are so bad fitting on the upper control arms, they allow the metal sleeve to rotate on the aluminum shaft and chewing it up if one is not careful... or the theory is the sleeve is too short...

To be honest, I doubt they are any different than any other ball joint. I don't see VBP having the resources to engineer a ball joint any better than GM, let's say.

What this could be is a generic racing grade ball joint that has been modified to fit the C4, which isn't all that hard to do from my perspective.

With all of that said, get AC Delco ball joints. They last a long time... I put them in about 90k miles ago, and they are still fine. Reminds me, need to grease them.

The lower ball joint is real easy to determine condition. There is a grease fitting that has a slot that it goes into as the joint wears. Once you are unable to grease the joint, it must be replaced.

If you have the original joints, the uppers will require being drilled out. It might be best to remove the upper control arm and drill them out on a drill press. The lower joint is a compression fit and will require a c-clamp tool to press it out and the new one back in.

They look like this: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12 ... 10944&ci_sku=00915822000P

My real question was to see if they had fitment issues as experienced by some other users with other brands ,

hey Bogus, Yeah autozone loaned me that tool for 100 deposit good for 72 hours then I own it, talk about pressure, it helped my get all the rear bushings out and some in.

frankly just tossing ideas around, my ball joints with the tires up, does not wiggle when I try, and flipping through the pages of my Haynes repair book, I ran across what you are saying about the "wear indication" however they say that the shoulders of the zerk mount/ threads. fall below the joint housing plane, which in my estimation is sooner than your procedure.

nevertheless, I am quite sure they are the original delco's with ~145k on them and from the visual, I think they can go a few more years, the PO's x2 were anal about grease.... matter of fact he calls to check on me and his baby and it's been 2 years since I snatched it from him.

He for sure did not like my putting the 700r4 in from the black tag, heck it's mine now.

It is in good hands though, albeit rough at times, yeah I mess up alot.

I want to do at the very least the polys, I don't know why but it has me obsessed. The ball joints are good.

okay... how about this I live in a nice apartment, and the owners I know lets me work on the car, but I'm streamlining and selling off a lot of material things. i just don't want crap anymore....


I can go and buy a vise and a press, cheap enough and then I could sell it after the job, for a 30-50 percent hit. result... job done right at my place, reality.... big hassle....


would you consider me bringing the part and putting your machine shop to good use? and using that raincheck for your initial offer for helping me with the rears, but this time it's for the fronts. I would diffenately pay you for your extra pair of hands....

VBP makes ball joints? Uh yeah not sure about that. They are probably reselling someone elses with a markup, right?

I have the press, just no driveway space!!! both vettes are in it and DOA.

If you can wait until after Christmas, I know we can get it done... just need to clear my 92 out of the drive.

As for clearing junk, I am doing the same thing. But I never sell a tool. If I feel the need to buy it, I keep it. The press is good for all sorts of things - ball joints, bushings, U joints... never know when you will need a press.

I have yet to get a ball joint set... but when I do the joints on either mine or my wifes, I will buy it. Cause I will need it again soon enough!

Greasing them is good. But wear will still occur. My estimate of replacement is really a minor matter; the shoulder? greasable? meh. Not that much difference, really.

At this point, and 145k miles, I would say that replacing them as PM wouldn't be a bad idea. It's really hard to estimate if a ball joint is bad or not. I have had "professionals" tell me "they hold grease, they felt tight" only to have it collapse a week later.

My first car, an AMC Pacer (marketing speak for "piece of shit"!) had a really crappy GM rack/pinion steering system. I found a good used one and had a local shop install it. Mind you, I was all of 17 years old! But no matter how much you know, garages will only listen so far. Well, I took the parts, they did the install. I asked them to replace the ball joints, one was really making lots of noise.

The shop 'checked' them and literally a week later, one collapsed. I was stuck with a tow bill because of it. Asshole. When I went back he went through all the excuses and I hit him with "why didn't you just replace them like I asked you to?" he hemmed and gave me a coupon for a free alignment.

That wasn't the only time a mechanic ignored my instructions/requests, and after enough ignorant work, I decided to start doing my own. For the most part, since about 1985, I have done my own work. Except when I had a new car with a warrantee.

no rush man, I sold a harbor fright drill press after a bout with drilling my then xs1100 brake rotors, turned out great, after that episode, i didn't want to see another metal chip

I had Pintos, Capris, and Stangs but you win the award for nicest car of the 70's, I liked the AMX and Javelins, even the gremlins, and even the Cosworth vegas....

Garages... would like to avoid them when I can.....

I really like the AMX. Nice looker. I like the first gen.

I am a really big supporter of the local SoCal AMC club. I provide them with pics of their big car show, things like that.

I like the Cosworth Vega, in concept, but the reality isn't as nice. In short, the engine is junk!

I suspect I have the same HF drill press you had. I got mine from a dear friends estate. His widow wanted to make sure the lathe and drill press went to someone who would use it. I did pay for it, but it was like half price.

About the only thing I will pay a pro to do is AC (the environmental issues), trans and rear end work. Too many specialized tools and knowledge for one off work isn't practical.

Back a couple of years ago I was building and engine for a friend and at the same time he was re-building the suspension on his 96.

You can look it up on the CF stickied at the top of C4 Tech. Just look for "BlackHarleyMan" suspension thread.

He bought a complete suspension kit from someone... No matter, they all sell mostly the same stuff. BTW these were "Made in CHINA".

The ball joints sucked. The lowers were way too large to press in the lower control arm. The uppers which are bolt in were stamped wrong and the holes didn't line up with the holes in the upper A Arm.... He ended up sending them both back.

I told him I thought that MOOG and TRW made the best aftermarket suspension parts. I have a lot of engine customers that race lower class cars oval track and they must use stock suspension stuff - Those guys only use TRW or MOOG.

He went to Advance Auto which could special order TRW. The lowers were right on spec and pressed in fine. The uppers while not a perfect fit for the orginal rivet holes were very close.

If I had to buy new ball joints, TRW or MOOG is where I'd spend my $$$.
Will

My moogs fit fine, upper and lower.

What about Spicer?

That thread I have read over and over again, he bought the stuff from Corvette central and it held up the job,even the new TRW's uppers weren't aligned perfectly, what gives?

any how I can't see how a reputable " racing oriented" outfit like VBP who would not correct an ill-fitting or poor quality short life span part, at the end if the day, when you look at what they offer, it is minimalist for sure.

unlike Eckler's Mamo, Corv central et al. which carries everything, VBP I feel is intimate and is accountable for what they sell, more so than the general public type aforementioned outfits.

That said, who knows, I could call them and I think their rebuild kit is a good alternative to Corvette recycling's
4 "new" control arms for 400 bucks.



it costs 399.99 and has tie rods and boots in poly, bushings, although the ball joints will have to be replaced by oneself.

it would be hard for me to press out brand NOS, rubber bushings to put in polys and then have old arms sitting around, just my take.

I agree from reading it's best to stay with moogs and trw...but the jury is out

Did you know that NASCAR ball joints are based on OEM Chrysler Imperial pieces?

Don't get hung up on the ball joint. A new one won't fail on a race track; inless you fall off the edge several times real hard at Willow...

so what are you saying, get the cheapest once and call it a day?

No, I didn't say that. What I did say was that racing bjoints don't strike me as being special.

Get TRW, Moog, Spicer or GM. Stick with the name brand and made in the USA (our metalurgy is still far superior than Chinese).

Check NAPA or call Chris May at Superior Chevy, 1.800.628.8267.

Or buy a Chinese one, or some parts house special, then try installing it 6 times, curse at it, get a newer, stronger ball joint press, curse at it more for not fitting, measure it, curse at it more, then either snap your lower control arm trying to fit it, or take it back in and start over with the right part.

You can rent a ball joint tool at autozone, but it wont' fit into the control arm. I took a grinder to the tool so that it would sit flush. The next corvette guy that rents that tool is going to be a happy camper.