upper control arm w/ ball joint was not adjustable. I don't know what part to get. My car is a honda accord 1993 automatic LX.

I forget to get alignment after both inner and outer tie rods were done on both sides. Tires are ruined, I went in a mechanic shop to get an alignment. He said he couldn't get it perfect because the front left upper ball joint was damaged (or it would be hard to get it done well). He said get an adjustable ball joint. I read on the internet, that it's cheaper and much more convenient to get the upper control arm w/ upper ball joint. So I went that route, except there was no adjustable types control arms that they had (I didn't think the adjustable was a big deal at the time). When I went into the mechanic for two new front tires and the alignment. They still wouldn't do the full alignment. I guess what he did was a partial alignment and didn't charge for it. But my left tire is going to wear faster if I don't get a complete alignment.

I still have the original left control arm that is adjustable but broken ball joint. My question is what part do I get that will fit in there? I'm looking at the ball joints on rock auto. And I'm not sure what to get.

For example one of them is a "MEVOTECH MK90490" from rock auto. If you do a google search for this part you will find some reviews on amazon saying this. "this is a fixed camber caster kit. has six posSitions. ranging from positive camber mo caster. to caster no camber. both positive n negitive of both. directons say use iether .5 or 1.0 degree depend on wich one you use but onlyone came in package. n i dont know wich one."

I have a hard time understanding what a camber caster kit set is and why is it fixed. And another example we have another part number which is this one:

"MOOG K90490 "
"Camber/Caster Plus or Minus 1 Degrees" I don't know what this means either.

And then some parts have this listed on it "ACDELCO 45K15002 " Mounting Type Press In .

And another type would say which is

"Mounting Type Bolt On" which is the DORMAN 539016

I think the story is that the front right side has an adjustable upper ball joint and looks really solid. And the left one was just an upper control arm w/ball joint non adjustable. Which means it doesn't make it aligned evenly. I'm not sure, I'm no expert, and since I already got the wrong part the first time. I want to make sure I get the right part second time around. I'm assuming all of these upper ball joints sold separately are designed to fit in the control arm? I heard you need a special tool? Which part should I get based on your experience?

Should I get the mounting type bolt on or the mounting type press in?

Is the adjustable really needed? I really want to get one, I just don't know if I can get the old one out and put the new one in. And which part should I get that works with the upper control arm the best?

 

Do you know how many degrees you are off. You can tell that on the printout they gave you. Your ball joint it press in and it's removed like any other ball joint. You can look at YouTube to see how to do it and rent the tool from advance if you don't have a set.

Depending on how far it's off will tell you if you if you need a plus or minus 1 or the one that goes to 3. More than likely a plus or minus 1 should be all you need.

 

Yeah, he said Plus or minus 1 is all I need. I'm considering
"QUICK STEER K90490" 'economy' which is $7.82 which is a close out sale which is normally $22.97 or MOOG K90490 'daily driver' which is $48.79.

Quick steer is "QuickSteer is the economy chassis line from the makers of Moog" both those parts are showing the same picture. So I'm kind of confused. I don't want to go too cheap on a part like this. Since I bought the wrong part that I needed to begin with.

Then there is the MasterPro Chassis Ball Joint K90490 which is $10.00 per box. (at oreilly auto parts store)

The Moog K90490 Ball Joint is showing a different picture on amazon that is different from rock auto. Just a lot of stress and aggravation over parts. Why do they sell so many that are not adjustable if the original honda accord needs adjustable? (Perhaps someone that has replaced a similar part on their honda accord could chime in on this). And there is no information about getting adjustable on the forums (just to get the upper control arm already w/ the ball joint put in). I do trust MOOG parts although. It's just I'm buying based on price. If I spend more I know I get a quality part. I don't want to go by that philosophy. Any suggestions on brands? Or is Moog the one to go with?

There is also MEVOTECH MK90490 which is $31.79 'Offset (For lifted/modified, difficult to align, or significantly off spec suspensions)`

I'll probably go with MOOG and then use a special toolkit like you said. Unless any one else here has experience with this and has any other suggestions and tips. Thanks by the way. Hopefully I can return the other part in time.

 

Alright here is an update on what I did. Hopefully this information will be valuable to someone else so they can save some money.

The original part that I ordered was "MOOG CK9816 (K9816) Control Arm" which is non adjustable ball joint that is permanently pressed in to the control arm. For me, the alignment shop recommended adjustable. So they couldn't do a complete alignment. Now I can't return that part which cost me about $60.00. Because I selected installed on car, so now it marks it as non returnable. I got screwed there. But oh well, a lesson learned. Other internet forums or advice will tell you differently to get the permanently pressed upper ball joint w/ control arm because it comes with the ball joint already pressed in and you save money. Except most of them are non adjustable and adjustable is better because it will align your tires better. But every situation is different (so don't quote me on that), but I really needed the adjustable one for the alignment mechanic. Rock auto sucks with their return policies. If you order from amazon you could always get a return.

Now for the adjustable part. I was going to buy "Moog K90490 Ball Joint" which advanced auto parts does not have unless you call in. I thought I could order it in, then order online when it becomes available and get the 25% off. Because it was $58.00 so I would get it for $44.00. They said nope, we order from the manufacture directly and I would have to pay for it in store. And wait 3 days. I said the heck with that I'm not doing that. I got advice from one of my relatives that even if you order the part cheap it might last a long time and you could always get it replaced 3 years down the line. And the moog part might fail down the line anyways. Which is going to cost $50 to $60 plus shipping on rock auto. (no returns, no warranty unless it breaks down, I don't know, but if you select incorrectly you don't even get a warranty I have no idea) I don't care for rockauto unless you 100% certain that is the part you need.

So what I did was buy a "MasterPro Chassis Ball Joint K90490" for $10.99 at Oreillys (same day they got it in). I thought it had to be pressed in, I went to a mechanic to ask how much he would charge to put it in. He looked at it, and said it doesn't have to be pressed in. It just bolts on, so I went home and took a impact socket to it and a channel lock grip on the end of it to tighten it. And that worked! Now I installed it on the car and it is working good. The alignment is a little bit off a tad more, but I need a complete alignment anyways.

Oh I forget to mention, getting the old one off was easy, the same way you put it in, you take it off. As you can see, it matches the other side quite well by my pictures. And that almost looks like the same part. I will update to see how the alignment goes. But you could save $50 instead of getting the Moog adjustable ball joint. But remember to get adjustable if the other side is adjustable if you are going to go for the moog part. But in this case, don't get a new control arm with a non adjustable ball joint. So if I had to do this all over again I probably would get the "Moog K90490 Ball Joint.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my "MOOG CK9816 (K9816)" Maybe I can get the old non adjustable ball joint out and put an adjustable ball joint in. It doesn't look like it has bearings in it. It looks like the original upper control arm has bearings that are a little warn out. I don't know if the original honda accords upper ball joints were originally adjustable. But in my experience I couldn't get the alignment done completely right without them. Don't let some of the internet fool you into thinking you are saving money by getting the upper control arm with the upper ball joint because they don't sell the adjustable kind. It was super easy to put in and you didn't need a press. It just bolts in. Oh by the way taking the upper control arm off is an easy job, take the cotter pin and the castle nut off. And hit it with a hammer (watch a few video tutorials on other cars to see what area to hit.) to separate ball joint from the steering column Once that is done, there is two bolts on the engine bay you need to take off. It's a much simpler job then the inner tie rods. Inner tie rod jobs just require more steps and more annoyances with the lock washers and the air tubes and the clamps and everything else but is a doable job if you can get both sides, if you take your time and have the right tools. It's so hard to get alignment done if you have malfunctioning ball joints and tie rods. They just wont do it. I think I saved money doing these jobs all myself but waiting to get the alignment hit my wallet hard with worn out tires.



Front left upper ball joint

Front right upper ball joint