McMung

Anyone know whether the rear ball joints (upper and lower) are the same as the front on the C6?

These are listed for the the front and are popular replacements:

Lower: MOOG Part # K6537
Upper: MOOG Part # K500134

Can they be used on the rear as well? Visually they look the same... not sure if there are spindle bore size or taper differences front to rear though?

el es tu

the lowers and uppers are different, but they work both front and rear

btw zip corvette sells c5 and c6 balljoints
www.zip-corvette.com/

also pfadt sells lower balljoints that can be adjusted as they wear:

http://www.pfadtracing.com/catalog/p...roducts_id/130

McMung

Thank you. Now I won't worry about destroying the boot on one of my rears...

SteveDoten

GM makes 2 knuckles; Front right is the same as Rear left and vice versa

I can't tell you the ball jts. are the same part#, but the uppers are the same as they are pressed into the knuckle

2009 GM changed the knuckles on all models, forum members have stated this was due to the ZR1 brakes(you'll notice more material in the brake mount area)

Larry Myers

The dealer just replaced the left rear lower ball joint on my Z because of a torn boot. Cost - $175. I was aware the front and rear lower ball joints were interchangable so asked the tech the cost of the front one. He looked it up - $75. Strange.

The dealer parts department does not stock Z brake padlets but does stock four front Corvette emblems. Even more strange.

The GMPP is a wonderful thing!

SteveDoten

Was it the ball joint or the tie rod end? the aft tie rods I have seen on C6Z51 and C6Z06 have grease fittings, IIRC the fittings are not on the fronts

Larry Myers

Ahhh, Steve, you have just exposed the fact I don't know the difference between a ball joint and a tie rod end. I attribute this gross error to the fact I engaged the keyboard before engaging the brain.

So everywhere in the above post where I wrote ball joint, change to read tie rod end.

My post was based on info from my tech. However, I didn't ask him if he'd ever replaced a front rod end with a rear and vice versa and if so how did he deal with the zerk.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.

Thanks for pointing out the error of my ways.

McMung

I would (eventually) replace the stock units with these:

Rear Bump-Steer Kit
Front Bump-Steer Kit

They are adjustable and I think the bearings are rebuildable in these???

Larry Myers

McMung, Good advice. Any future maintenance on these rod ends will indeed consider the ZIP components. This time, however, had I been aware, would probably still have used the oem parts as the work was accomplished via the GMPP.

el es tu

you just replace the heim joints when they wear out - I believe zip uses aurora brand but there any many companies that make them

383

Is a full set of ball joints really $550?!!?
I'm swapping in a set of control arms with delrin bushings and I was going to replace ball joints at the same time but 550? That seems like a bit much for non adjustable bj

el es tu

531.60 from Zip. Then 34.99 for shipping (they have a shipping system based on the cost of the item rather than the size/weight).

The other option you have is amazon (under 400).

search for "2005 corvette ball joint" (2005 because the c6 model started that year and they usually dont list every individual year the part was on the car - usually it will state 2005- 2010 or 2013 depending on how up to date the vendor is)