I looked at Rock Auto's catalog and they sell AC Delco and Spicer branded ball joints for my car. (Honda only sells the ball joint as part of a knuckle assembly, for $115, hub and bearing not included!)
The AC Delco ball joint is priced at 2X the cost of the Spicer part.
Does anyone have experience with either of these brands, particularly in the arena of Honda ball joints?
The even harder part will be determining the correct spindle size - apparently Honda used two different spindle sizes in 2002, I don't know which my car has, and Rock only lists one part no. for 2002. The online Honda catalogs list two different part nos. for the knuckles, but they don't have an explanation to let the consumer know which one will fit their car.
AC Delco parts are always more expensive because they're trading on their name. In reality, the AC Delco part is probably made by Spicer, Moog, TRW, or McQuay-Norris. The most important factor in quality is whether the part is rated as "service grade" (read cheap crap from China), or "professional grade" (OEM quality by name brand manufacturer.
The next issue is whether or not to replace the control arms while I have them separated. Last time I attempted to separate those ball joints I was only successful with one side.
If I can find someone to replace (press) the LCA bushings, that will save me a pretty penny compared to replacing the LCAs in their entirety. Unless of course I am charged an arm and a leg for the labor.
Oh, sure, pressing the ball joints out should be a piece of cake, especially with that tool. I can probably borrow that set from auto parts store locally.
The hard part is separating the ball joint from the LCA - and yes, LOL, that's after removing the retaining nut and cotter pin.
The other hard part is pressing the bushings in and out of the LCAs. Or can that same tool be used for that too!?
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