Hey guys, been reading through countless old posts as I have been looking for my first corvette, and have found no mention of a similar problem.
I just purchased a '02 base with a rebuilt title from relatively minor left/front impact. 48K miles. Upon test driving, a loud creaking/popping sound could be heard coming from right/front most noticable when entering driveway over curb at 45 degree angle. The price was good enough that I decided to bite anyway, 9K.
So yesterday, I took it to the local stealership outta desperation for a diagnosis, as I knew they would lift and inspect every inch of my baby looking for anything they could stick me for. I never intended to allow them to do any work. They're findings were, upper/lower control arms and ball joints on both sides, steering rack, sway bay end links. Oh, and a brake job. Totaling a little over 3K.
Previous owner states new GM ball joints and control arms on left replaced 20K miles ago due to accident, with reciept from dealer installation. Question is, when im able to get my car on a personal lift in a couple days, how do I diagnose ball joints? no popping at all with shaking the tires while sitting on the ground. Are the ball joints available seperately, or only with the control arms, as the dealer states? Are there any aftermarket brands that I can buy with confidence to save a little coin? Good news is, rest of car checked out good. I knew the car needed TLC, but am hoping to stay on the short side of 3K. Thank you all vey much. I've learned more corvette info on this forum in a couple weeks than you could in years on my own.

 

You need to lift the car and see if there is movement on the tires when there is no weight on the car.

You can save money by getting parts at places like Autozone, Advanced Auto, etc. That will create all sorts of discussion but the parts will be cheaper than the dealership...since you asked about how to save money. You can go to any major website to see what parts are available. If you can't find them then check the Corvette vendors.

 

Try tightening the links on the sway bar first.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if the control arms had to be replaced, the accident was anything but minor........just sayin

 

So far my research has found that the best ball joint replacements to buy are from rockauto.com. Get either moog or raybestos ball joints. Steel endlinks don't cost much, maybe yours just need tightened. If your rack is leaking, you may want to find a rebuilt rack rather than paying $900 from GM dealer. I'd rather take mine to a corvette shop rather than getting screwed over at a stealership. What part of the country are you living in?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...ould-u-do.html

apparantly there has been several changes through out the C5 years with ball joints. 2002-2004 can't use moog joints it may appear, you might have to go with raybestos all around.

 

LS1tech.com is pretty good also, but there is nothing else quite like
corvetteforum.

 

Thanks Nassy! I'm living in central Kentucky. In regards to the accident, maybe I used bad wording. Nose, hood, lh door and fender replaced along with control arms. Was just saying that the control arms were the only structural parts damaged. Car was repaired with GM parts. Not even any radiator damage. Id like to thank you all very much for the help.

 

Anyone know the torque specs on the sway bar end links??

 

I've read you have to throw the TQ specs aside if you want them to stop making noise. People say over torquing them and it makes the noise stop. Like as hard as you can turn your wrenches on them.