Ball joints: Should I replace them?

[Agamemnon Varonos]

Hi all,

In the last months I am struggling to put my recently acquired Fulvia on the road. The car is in very good condition, but has been standing in the previous owner's garage for years. After some repairs, the mechanics who undertook the job to prepare the car for the road worthiness examination (MOT equivalent) told me that the control showed that the car is fine apart the ball joints that should be replaced. So now I am at the point that all papers are ready and I only need to pass the ball joints test.

I am new in the Fulvia world although I am a Lancista for more than ten years now. I made some online research and found out that it is rather difficult to unmount and mount the ball joints. Is that correct? The garage repairing my Fulvia is not a Lancia expert, but undertakes a lot of mechanical works on classic cars. Should I worn them on the procedure so that they do not make any other damage to other parts?

It looks like that the ball joints are still the original ones. Are they ware prone? Could it be that the apparent looseness is due to some rubber joints rather than to the ball joints themselves?

Last, but not least; if you think that the ball joints should be finally replaced, do you have an idea, where I could find them in the Benelux region?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Kind regards

Agamemnon

[Huib]

I assume you are talking about the suspension (top and bottom) ball joints.
For the MOT test the ball joints should not have play. Neither should the rubber be torn.

These ball joints are diferent for series 1 / early serie 2 and late series 2 / series 3.

It is reasonable that these have to be changed after 30 to 40 years.

I always take the A-arms off to replace them. Be very carefull when you take the upper A arm off. It is easy to loose a hand when the spring hits you.