Snap rings that I've seen on ball joints are there as a backup. In all gearbox designs that I've worked with, the snap rings are backups. It's always a press fit to the arm that does the real work.

The OEM piece was designed to save weight. Therefore Mazda gave up on replaceable balljoints and just integrated it into the arm.

Since you have torn boots, I would change them pronto and see how they hold up.

As for testing, in my experience a badly worn ball joint has play in any direction other than rotational. It can take a dial indicator to find it, but a crude check is to rotate the ball in the socket. If it's good there is a snugness that you can feel when turning it. A slightly worn joint will spin more freely, and a badly worn joint will spin and not feel smooth.

Dave

 

I anyone has a set that they know is beyond using. Send them to me and I will section it. This will help in determining how best to R&R the part. I will post pictures and such

 

Hey Matt, with as much track use as your car sees, I would not try to do anything radical with the ball joints, just replace the arms if there is play in the ball joints. Keep in mind to test it with the ball joint in roughly the orientation it would be in with the suspension assembled and the car sitting on the ground. It's easy to replace the boot and grease, sucks getting it out of the spindle but I've used a picklefork several times with good results (you can borrow mine if you need). If you end up needing to replace an arm, just get a good used one.

 

Does this test assume that the suspension is compressed? Say the car was on stands and the front suspension is unloaded. THen you load one of the front corners, say by putting a floor jack under the lower arm. THen you wiggle the knuckle inboard/outboard... is that what you're saying?

I called Ray Crowe yesterday about the cost of the replacement arms and asked him what he thought of the ball joints. He said that they "generally hold up pretty good". He also said to check them before attempting to replace the arms (duh)... just "use a crow bar and check for play"... I didn't ask him too many more questions about how to go about it. So if the play check goes well, just re-boot and regrease the joints...

Here's an article that may help: http://www.carquestchassistraining.c...balljoints.htm

 

If you email the RHD Japan guys, they should get back to you in about a day or so. I'm not sure if it'll help, but they might be able to clear up the description some...

 

When mine wore out, I got a replacement OEM one from Mazda Recycling. Give them a call. It wasn't too expensive, but I don't remember how much I paid. http://mazdarecycling.com/

 

Not quite a balljoint.....wouldn't want to guess at longevity on the street either!