Has anyone else noticed play in these extended ball joints. I was checking my frt whl brgs for play and noticed that both frt lwr ball joints have about a 1/16" play up and down. There is none sideways in the socket but quite a bit straight up and down. These were installed last spring and have 10 track days only. Those who have them should check. I can't believe I am the only one especially since the movement is identical in both.Try lifting the tire straight up and down. Mine has no slack it you pull in and out at the top and bottom.

 

No play in mine. Installed early last spring. About 10 track days on them and a few thousand street miles.

 

Is it the ball moving in the socket or the spindle moving up/down on the stud of the ball joint?

 

Could the LBJ be moving on the FLCA from not being bolted in securely?

 

good question. I recently swapped over to ELBJ's, and I had to replace the vertical innermost BJ bolt that sits under the shock mount on both sides because they were totally borked. They must have died a pretty quick death too, because I had only run those OE style BJ's for about a year's worth of DD and they didn't have any visible damage when last I touched them.

 

The ball is visably moving up and down in the socket when the tire is lifted with the car on a hoist. I had a PM from a person saying he had the same issue but doesn't want to post publicly and offend his vendor which installed them and does all his work. He has went back to the OEM ones.

 

i suppose i need to check mine.

 

OEM or die on ball joints.

 

I'll give mine a check next time the car is on the lift. I've had quite a few track miles on them and a number of autocross...haven't noticed a problem yet.

 

I sure hope this doesnt become a common problem. I have a new set of ELBJ to go in after my third set of failed lower OEM style joints.

Check your ball joints people!

 

oem from Mazda or oem style from a random parts store?

 

Context please. Third set in how many track days or miles? Car setup?

 

Two OEM sets and a Moog set.First OEM set came on the car and lasted about 100k with a few autocrosses. OEM went back in lasted about two years of street driving and 6 track days with a few autocrosses. Moogs lasted about a year and a half with almost all street/ mountain driving. Maybe two autocrosses. Almost all on Hoosiers or 200tw tires, and other than the first set almost entirely at 3.2 -4 Degrees negative camber and 800In/# front springs.

EDIT; 6k-7k street miles per year.

 

If anyone has issues, please pm me. While this group is known for being hard on their parts, the ELBJ's are supposed to take it. I talked with the manufacturer and had them do some testing. They did a static test, pressing down on the ELBJ's with a 4 ton press, and they did not fail. However, we all know that racing causes cumulative deterioration--what might be fine today may fail tomorrow.

For that reason I've asked the manufacturer to review and beef up the design. They'll be making the forging larger, and we may go to a larger ball socket as well. That said, our current known failure rate is five out of 1,000.

While there are very few race parts that have a warranty, I will stand behind these ball joints. Anyone who purchases from the current stock will get a "no questions asked" replacement, although I do ask that you pay for shipping.

 

Thanks Cord I well PM you. My car is very fast and gets driven hard on the track on hoosiers. As for FACTORY OEM joints the same set has been in the car for 5 years of this abuse plus the 100,000 miles that was on the car [original owner and strictly street driven stock] and they are still tight. The only reason I changed them was to get same 4* neg camber with a little higher ride height.

 

I lost one too. PM'd.

 

What a perfect example of transparency and support. Thanks Cord

 

Any updates on reliability and longevity?

 

I've had zero issues on my car so far. I have run 5 hard track days and 10 autocross days since installation in May of this year.

 

We're at five out of 1,600 (0.003125%), and still guaranteed.