Well lastnight in getting my front springs swapped I manged to mangle both of my upper ball joints because I didn't realize you could get the bottoms off simply by pulling the backing plates and allowing the lower balljoint to fully seperate. So.... now I need new ones. Advance and Napa both list a "Rare Parts" brand joint for around $80 a side. Cars has a whole kit but I don't know if they do just the ball joints. Kanter has them for $53 a side. Classic Buick Parts has it for $50 a side. Today I'm going to call Carquest and the big wholesale warehouse here in town and see if they have them for cheaper. Any suggestions on where to get them or any to flat stay away from? Oh yeah, it also looks like you need grind the spot weld off the beat it out with a hammer then either weld in a new one or some look like they have threaded rings that you tighten into place on the underside. Thanks,
I think moog uppers run around $80 a pop and they're weld in. From what I've learned, the moog stuff is the best you can get. You're correct that you'll need to grind off the welds to get them off. If you look at factory service stuff it says to just replace the upper arms, which is somewhat hard to do now. Good luck!
Moog does not make uppers for the '64 Riviera. I called them directly. I did however find that Energy Suspension makes a boot kit that is supposed to fit. I'll find out later today as they arrive. Its just the boots that I messed up, the joints are fine.
Well I'm digging my own thread up from the dead... the Energy suspension stuff doesn't work, the boots are too big and rigid to attach to the joints and now the joints are dry and clunking when you heel the car over. I need new one for sure. Who do ya'll recommend?
I don't know the quality of the uppers specifically, but the other stuff they sell I found to be good, so I'd be willing to be these are too: http://www.classicbuicks.com/frontendlate.htm Good luck!:beer
I've heard that the Rare Parts brand is US made and supposed to be good. I don't know about those from Classic Buicks and Kanter as they are close to the same price and probably the same supplier. Thier quarterwindow seals sucked, but they were universals, I've since gotten molded replacement from someone on eBay so I can't fault them too much.
