How to check ball joints

[911 Rod]

I need to check the ball joints in my 95 318IS.
I had the complete control arms switched to M E30 about 40K ago.
It handles go-cart like, but you really need to hold on to it for fear of swerving in the wrong direction.
I'm not sure if this is normal for solid ball joints or they have worn already.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Rod

[Wayne 962]

Hmm, can you explain further? Seems like a problem like that would be caused by worn tie rods and/or a rack...

-Wayne

[911 Rod]

I'll try.
The E30 M control arms have solid ball joints. (correct?)
They were recommended by a well respected mechanic that really only works on track cars. He also set the toe to zero. I went back to him right away to say the car wants to follow every rut while in a straight line. His reply was that what about that "cornering".
it does corner twice as well as before without any play. You just need to hold onto the wheel while driving straight. I did adjust a bit of toe in to help a little.
This is a problem if you lend the car or sell it. I lent it to my previous G/F and she kept the window open in the rain for fear of letting one hand off of the wheel. (1 reason she's previous)
Anyway.
I'm considering swapping back to the regular E36 control arms with rubber ball joints and would like to check the current ones.
Do I just push on them with a bar?
Should the car be in a static position?
Thanks
Rod

[Jeron]

Tram-lining starts with the tires. Low tread depth or large block treaded tires tend to follow road imperfections. Lots of thing effect tram-lining such as sidewall stiffness, tire pressure, alignment etc..

It sounds like in your case your alignment is magnifying the tram-lining. What are you your alignment specs relative to stock?

[911 Rod]

The tires are 225's and are well worn.
My toe-in is approx. 1/16"
Maybe it's just everything together.
I plan on putting new snows on in the next couple of week and this should tell me something.

[Jeron]

I've had bald stiff sidewall track tires, on an areas of highway which was coming uncapped, nearly rip the steering wheel from my hands. Even with the steering wheel firmly in my two fisted grasp and my elbow braced on the door so the wheel could not move the road imperfections shifted the car easily 6 inches in either direction.

That was probably a worst case scenario considering the asphalt, my tires and my alignment.

[911 Rod]

I hope it's my problem as well.
It corners better than my 911 under certain speeds.
But, how do I check the ball joints?

[Jeron]

When I've seen them checked the mechanic uses a prybar to first try and separate then shift/shear the components on either side of the joint. He says he is looking for excess play from wear or popping form a broken joint.

I've never personally seen a bad one so I can't describe it.

[Wayne 962]

Okay, the bottomline is that there is no easy way nor accurate way to check them. Most mechanics replace them if they have gone over a certain amount of miles, and the rest of the suspension looks worn. That said, I have never removed a tie rod or ball joint that I judges to be "severely worn". Yet, replacing joints makes the suspension feel tighter.

Basically, it's tough to tell if it's slightly worn just by looking at it - particularly if it's still attached to the car. Slight wear in the ball joints can product wobbling and vibrations under higher speeds. Another problem is that the removal process almost always damages / destroys the little protective rubber boot on the joint, so you end up having to replace it anyways.

Bottomline, the best way to figure out when to replace the joints is to figure out how many miles are on them...

-Wayne