As long as they are well greased, you shouldn't have any problems. Odds of a
catastrophic failure on an upper balljoint are quite low. You can easy do a
'wiggle test' to check for play on upper balljoint. Just grab the top part
of the steering knuckle where it meets the upper ball joint. Any clicking or
movement indicated wear on the balljoint.

I would wait until there is play in the upper balljoint before replacing. I
would then replace with OEM (if you can afford it) and if you can't afford it
like me, then go for a good quality lifetime warranty aftermarket part like
Moog or TRW.

Mark Alexander wrote:
>> AFAIK, honda sells them separately. Its listed on hondaautomotiveparts.com
>> under 'Knuckle' for your car. $10 for lower boot, but i think on the upper
>[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>>> Honda doesn't sell them
>>> separately, but aren't there aftermarket replacements?)
>
>You were right about the lower joints, and the rod ends (listed under
>"Tie Rod"). But it's the
>upper ones I need, and it's these which are not available
>separately--to get the joint, one
>must purchase the entire upper arm assembly. :-( At least they look
>easy enough to replace.
>
>To return to my first question, is it necessary to replace the joints
>just because of bad boots?
>
>And if not, how frequently should these be greased?
>
>Thanks, MLA

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200601/1