mrbdm99

After a free inspection at the dealer, they gave me a write up that said the "front thrust arms and ball joints" replaced. I agree that there is certainly a ball joint up front that needs to be replaced. At speeds of 60+, there is vibration and a bit of insatiability that two alignments and 4 corner balancing didn't help. They want about 1550 for it, but I'm going to be doing it myself. The problem is, I'm not entirely sure what they mean by front thrust arms and which ball joint. Some folks claim that is what the lower control arm is and others will claim it is the actual thrust arm (found in diagrams, forked one I think w/o looking), though, I've really found nothing much on the forums about replacing the actual thrust arm. Most of what I've seen involves control arms. It seems the other is a more common failure.

So, the question... What do you think they are actually referring to? Is there a sure fire way to check? I'll be under there doing my brakes in a few days and I can check then, but I was planning to do this at the same time.

I was reading that at least one of the arms and joints can be purchased as an already complete unit, which I'd rather do vs pressing the joint back into something after an install.

Thanks!

delviacv2

this is the thrust arm




and this is the lower control arm

mrbdm99

Agreed. I'm just wondering what they actually meant. I have been told by more than a few people that the real thrust arms are hardly ever replaced, vs some of the other control arms that are a common problem. I will be doing my brakes this weekend, so I will be under to see if I can determine what it is. I was hoping to get them both done at the same time, but I'll live.

delviacv2

mine where bad when I bough my car, try to rock the back and forward, mine had some play on the end that looks like a tie rod.