Near side front upper control arm replacement.

[Scottyscott]

Hi guys
Completely new to this, never posted on a forum before. my 2010 Gran turismo 4.7 mc shift which I bought a few months ago has just failed mot, front passengers side upper control arm. I’ve just ordered a replacement on ebay and company have sent me a picture of 2 different ball joint fittings. One with a grove and one without! Can anyone tell me which one I need? Any help would be much appreciated.
Picture attached
Cheers
Gerry

 

[conaero]

The official repair is to buy the entire upper, lower and hub carrier from Maserati at an acceptable £850 ish plus vat and change the entire unit.

This is ordered off the chassis and as far as I am aware there is only one type but then if it’s changed to grooved ball joints at some point it wouldn’t matter as the three parts are matched.

So, the only option you have is to split the ball joint and look.

The reason for all three parts coming together is that you cannot split the joints once assembled. Why that is, I cannot tell you but it is stipulated and for safety reasons I would not do it.

Can we have a link to the wishbones you are looking at?

 

[Scottyscott]

Hi Conaero
Thanks for the response. Here’s the link
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355858256008

 

[philw696]

Wow what a lot of stuff they are copying and manufacturing.
Very impressive.

 

[cheburator]

The official repair is to buy the entire upper, lower and hub carrier from Maserati at an acceptable £850 ish plus vat and change the entire unit.

This is ordered off the chassis and as far as I am aware there is only one type but then if it’s changed to grooved ball joints at some point it wouldn’t matter as the three parts are matched.

So, the only option you have is to split the ball joint and look.

The reason for all three parts coming together is that you cannot split the joints once assembled. Why that is, I cannot tell you but it is stipulated and for safety reasons I would not do it.

Can we have a link to the wishbones you are looking at?

£1156 from EUROSPARES now, unless you get a great discount from Maserati...

Lots of US owners have fitted the Chinese arms and seem quite happy with the quality

 

[Scottyscott]

£1156 from EUROSPARES now, unless you get a great discount from Maserati...

Lots of US owners have fitted the Chinese arms and seem quite happy with the quality

Hi Cheburator
Yes I’ve read lots of reviews on other sites and people have said that the Chinese ones were more robust than the originals.
The Chinese company have sense contacted me to say that after more checking the vin number that it’s option B that I need. It’s been sent with DHL and should be with me buy the 11th September. I’ll update this when it arrives.
Cheers

 

[Louis2005qp]

Hi, not sure if its too late or even if it will help, there are two different sizes of ball joints . One takes a 19mm socket on the nut and the other takes a 21mm socket. Even though the vin number was given to a Chinese supplier they still sent the wrong one.

 

[Harvey_Tim]

Lots of US owners have fitted the Chinese arms and seem quite happy with the quality

@cheburator just wondered if you have seen any feedback anywhere regarding the chinese engine / gearbox mounts if they are any good?

 

[conaero]

From Guangzhou, China

Right, you say they are more robust than the originals?

Shifting from 5th to 6th at 7k rpm and 160mph….I’ll stick to oem thanks.

You might well be correct but what is the price for a failure at that speed?

My experience of Chinese parts is as yours…much better than what you are told. Where is the line?

I can get the units from Scuds fir £800 plus vat

If I was presented by a customer to fit those I would have to decline.

 

[Lozzer]

From Guangzhou, China

Right, you say they are more robust than the originals?

Shifting from 5th to 6th at 7k rpm and 160mph….I’ll stick to oem thanks.

You might well be correct but what is the price for a failure at that speed?

My experience of Chinese parts is as yours…much better than what you are told. Where is the line?

I can get the units from Scuds fir £800 plus vat

If I was presented by a customer to fit those I would have to decline.

It's about time Maserati sorted their shi* out or these things wouldn't even be on the market. It's about time Maserati took some culpability for their lack of spares supply. I can see why anyone contemplating buying a Maserati would be put off. It just seems to be us mental cases that buy into the brand. Even Ferrari have a better ethos regarding customer spares supply (and less expensive), Maserati will ALWAYS be below in stature to Ferrari in the common punters eyes, so why can't they do the same?.

 

[Harvey_Tim]

From Guangzhou, China

Right, you say they are more robust than the originals?

Shifting from 5th to 6th at 7k rpm and 160mph….I’ll stick to oem thanks.

You might well be correct but what is the price for a failure at that speed?

My experience of Chinese parts is as yours…much better than what you are told. Where is the line?

I can get the units from Scuds fir £800 plus vat

If I was presented by a customer to fit those I would have to decline.

100% get your point and this response is not a go at you in anyway, but I wonder how many Maseratis ever get the opportunity to change gear at 160mph? … I doubt for example if many QPV’s get taken on track so if these items are safe at legal road speeds and can help keep the cars on the road then is that a bad thing?. From what I have read the feedback for these parts seems positive, however if there is evidence of them failing or you are going to be driving at the limits of the cars performance then I completely agree that they should not be fitted.

I totally get that if you can’t afford to maintain a Maserati then you probably shouldnt have one, but £800 plus vat for one corner is 10% of the purchase cost of an average QPV nowadays so is not surprising that people are looking for cheaper options.

 

[midlifecrisis]

Close enough not to want anything less than OEM. Certificate of Conformance means peace of mind.

 

[Harvey_Tim]

Not sure I get your point, that car is travelling at 150 mph … I was questioning how often that sort of speed or opportunity of that speed really happens for the average owner. Sure if I knew I would be regularly travelling at over twice the legal speed limit then I certainly wouldn’t want cheap chinese parts fitted either. But considering that (to my knowledge) there is no bad feedback for these parts then what would you prefer, that good cars get scrapped because people cannot afford to maintain them or that they are kept on the road ? - although I do appreciate that there is then the argument of future owners unknowingly taking the car to 150mph etc. etc. - it’s a very difficult area when the cars have become so cheap to own but so expensive to maintain “properly”.

Dont get me wrong, I totally understand, but I am just trying to play devils advocate when again to my knowledge these particular Chinese parts have not been failing.

 

[Lozzer]

100% get your point and this response is not a go at you in anyway, but I wonder how many Maseratis ever get the opportunity to change gear at 160mph? … I doubt for example if many QPV’s get taken on track so if these items are safe at legal road speeds and can help keep the cars on the road then is that a bad thing?. From what I have read the feedback for these parts seems positive, however if there is evidence of them failing or you are going to be driving at the limits of the cars performance then I completely agree that they should not be fitted.

I totally get that if you can’t afford to maintain a Maserati then you probably shouldnt have one, but £800 plus vat for one corner is 10% of the purchase cost of an average QPV nowadays so is not surprising that people are looking for cheaper options.

I did on the Autobahn

Not sure I get your point, that car is travelling at 150 mph … I was questioning how often that sort of speed or opportunity of that speed really happens for the average owner. Sure if I knew I would be regularly travelling at over twice the legal speed limit then I certainly wouldn’t want cheap chinese parts fitted either. But considering that (to my knowledge) there is no bad feedback for these parts then what would you prefer, that good cars get scrapped because people cannot afford to maintain them or that they are kept on the road ? - although I do appreciate that there is then the argument of future owners unknowingly taking the car to 150mph etc. etc. - it’s a very difficult area when the cars have become so cheap to own but so expensive to maintain “properly”.

Dont get me wrong, I totally understand, but I am just trying to play devils advocate when again to my knowledge these particular Chinese parts have not been failing.

Doesn't really matter, the cars are capable of crazy speeds, even the 3200 which has the least parts support of all, so I guess you pays ya money and takes ya choice. My point was we all know what these cars are capable of, we should not be having to resort to buying Chinese parts. Again a lack of Maserati empathy.

 

[conaero]

It is a conundrum and guess you have to take what is available.

Recently I had a GT in and as part of the service inspection noted a black wire (not blue) coming out of the NSR wheel bearing. The owner had had the car a few months and had not fitted it which means this aftermarket bearing is holding up so maybe the Chinese have sorted this out.

I did some research and found the part from the East at a price of about $50.

Had a discussion with Zep and came to the same conclusion as above, ie speed and failure vs risk.

The same applies, due diligence I can’t fit these.

 

[Harvey_Tim]

due diligence I can’t fit these.

This from your side of things, I completely understand.

It will be interesting to see how things progress though in the future as even more parts become NLA from Maserati or do you think that is unlikely with the more safety critical parts such as suspension arms and wheel bearings?

 

[highlander]

It will be interesting to see how things progress though in the future as even more parts become NLA from Maserati or do you think that is unlikely with the more safety critical parts such as suspension arms and wheel bearings?

I think maserati will continue to do what they have always done, which is basically disown cars over 15 yrs old, then GTs/QPVs will soon see the lack of essential parts like suspension arms etc that owners of older cars have been seeing for decades.............shame on maserati

 

[conaero]

Wouldn’t it make sense to just farm this out to a company and take a cut?

 

[Zep]

I think Maserati are stuck in an awkward spot. They sell high end Italian sports cars with significant price tags and many shared components with another, arguably more prestigious, manufacturer. These cars then suffer from depreciation which renders them available to people who aren’t likely to want to spend large amounts of money on their upkeep.

If they halved the price of these suspension components those people would still buy the copy parts, because they are cheaper still. So there is no point, they might as well keep the prices where they are and make the profit from the people who want to use genuine parts.

They couldn’t farm it out, for the same reasons. Then there are two mouths to feed and 20% of sod all is still sod all.

 

[Lozzer]

I think Maserati are stuck in an awkward spot. They sell high end Italian sports cars with significant price tags and many shared components with another, arguably more prestigious, manufacturer. These cars then suffer from depreciation which renders them available to people who aren’t likely to want to spend large amounts of money on their upkeep.

If they halved the price of these suspension components those people would still buy the copy parts, because they are cheaper still. So there is no point, they might as well keep the prices where they are and make the profit from the people who want to use genuine parts.

They couldn’t farm it out, for the same reasons. Then there are two mouths to feed and 20% of sod all is still sod all.

Pricing aside, even if they just made these things available, that would be a start the thing that really narks me is it's not Maserati that make them, it's places like Brembo, Ocap (wishbones?) and as far as I can tell they're not allowed to re-sell parts as Maserati won't let them, hence we have the Great Chinese Intervention. The pattern looks like QP and GT owners will be next to suffer the parts drought.