I just purchased a pair of top ball joints from a leading supplier of genuine parts and am concerned about the amount of play in the new part. Prior to fitting, I tested the new ball joints and found that they have a significant amount of axial play. In fact, about the same as the worn ball joint I was replacing (which gave typical clonking symptoms). I also tested all four front suspension ball joints + track rod ends on this car and, apart from the worn one, there is no discernible axial play in any of them. Here is the play that the new ball joint has. They also felt rough on rotation. I called the supplier who was very friendly / helpful but said that the parts are fine and that while original old stock items had zero axial play, the new ones had spring loaded axial free-play which they considered was fine. I beg to differ. Where I come from, this play would fail an annual inspection and that's before we talk about driving characteristics. Totally unsuitable for a performance car (or any car IMO). The supplier said that they have sold a lot of them and that there were no complaints. They are ok about refunding the parts so no problems on that front but my opinion is that these parts are junk and typical of the problem of getting quality parts for older cars. I'd be interested to hear other experiences / opinions on this as well as where to get new ball joints with no play. Did I really have to specify that I want my new ball joints with no discernable play? Hmm.
Sounds weird! you're right, it shouldn't have any axial play. I've never heard of a spring loaded axial free play before, is this a new technology?
A top ball joint would be pre-loaded using an internal spring to maintain accuracy after wear. This is not a load bearing joint. There would be some axial play. But on the other hand it seems from the video that the spring is much weaker than it should be and the amount of movement seems rather large, so this does look suspect. I would guess the original uses a belleville washer as the internal spring which gives a high preload but this type maybe uses a coil spring. Wise to return them.
I think your assumption that there should be zero axial play in a follower ball joint (upper) is incorrect. It is not load bearing and should have an internal spring to compensate for wear.
