~* I searched and got results. I know about the recent Ball Joint 101 thread; I printed it out. I have the Chilton Manual AND a brand new FSM *~

That said, as with most repairs I've done, the instructions always make things seem much much easier than they really are.

1).
In both manuals, it says to remove the Tie Rod Ball Joint. It even shows you a picture with it neatly removed. I notice you need to do this to get at the nut holding the ball joint to the "transverse link."

Question. If you have ever done this job, did you have to remove the Tie Rod Ball Joint? If so, is it supposed to be THIS hard? I have a Tie Rod "pitch fork" (tie rod ball joint separator tool) tool, but this thing will not budge.

2).
The books also say and show to remove the drive shaft. Sounds easy enough, but even after removing the wheel bearing lock nut, washer etc, that won't budge either. Now I can see where doing some of the earlier stuff would facilitate doing this part, but should this all be that hard?

The recent thread had me thinking 4 hours max. I'm on day 2 (granted I have a life, family and job, but I can sneak out at night to work in the garage). What can anyone share about doing this job that, perhaps, is not shown or annotated in the manuals or the recent thread on this said subject.

Matt? You seem to have a lot of experience, what say you?

 

Old mechanic's trick to removing stuck ball joints etc.. Okay you have the control arm and the ball joint assembly together. What you want to do is apply force on the control arm(ie... w/ a long crow bar or similar) The longer the better as you can apply more force. With force applied to the said joint(I don't remember if it's down or up. As long as it's the opposite direction you want the ball join to move), you now give the ball joint a good bang w/ a heavy hammer(ball pean or similar) The vibrations from the hammer will in theory shake loose the ball joint and allow it to "pop" out. Now you see why the pre-loaded force is necessary and to what direction. It's worked very well for me in the past and has prevented me from ripping up the rubber boot w/ the pickle fork. Good luck. I hope it works for you. You can try spraying some WD40 in there before. The vibrations should help work the lube in there.

 

Will give it a shot later tonight. Thanks for the tip(s).

 

ok 2 hrs tops on my method.

what you want to do is unbolt the bottom part of the ball joint from the arm.
now loosen the nut to the hub and slide axle out.
then pop the tie rod out. (this is optional)
support hub assembly.
what's left is for u to hammer the ball joint stud out..get a big hammer..go to town.
help if you done the axle swap already..also impact wrench will help u a lot there.

 

I removed the whole strut assy from the car. This made it much easier to remove the ball joint using a fork.

1) Separate tie rod end. Use impact hammer with fork if you have one. Pops right off everytime.

2) Remove brake line from strut. Remove caliper and support with wire. No need to disassemble the line connection.

3) Remove the axle nut.

4) Remove the 3 nuts for the ball joint.

5) Loosen 3 strut nuts in engine compartment.

6) Moving the srut slightly, slide out the axle assy (tap end with hammer if req'd). Wrap the CV boot with a rag for protection first.

7) Remove srut from car.

8) Support strut assy in vise. Remove ball joint.

9) Assy is reverse of above.

This may take a little longer, but it is easier in the long run.

My biggest problem was removing the rusted cotter pins (had to drill)from the tie rod nut!

Good luck. I think I mentioned everything!
Tim

 

IMO that's A LOT of unnecessary work. u don't need to move the strut..no chance of throwing off the alignment.
my way is to move the axle out of the way and hammer at the stud. the strut and assembly stays.

 

I just did mine the other day. Since I was replacing the joints I didnt mind using the fork. I just undid the nut as far as I could then got a BIG hammer and just kept hitting the crap out of the fork until it poped. Then I pryed it and took the nut the rest of the way off. I put the other one in by puting the nut on there and slide the ball joint up a little at a time until the nut is down enough. Took me about 30 min. give or take a little. I think the correct way would be to take the axle out(like Dan suggested) and I did on the side I was replacing the axle on but not on the other because I had already replaced the axle and hate trying to get to the 3 screws that hold the carrier bearing on.


As you can see there are several ways to do this from all the different posts.

 

...feel better about it. Saying it's only a 3 hour job threw me off and I thought I was doing something wrong. On the other hand, a 13-year old car that's been through seasons of salt+ice probably would need some coaxing to get loose.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

I replaced my ball joints a few weeks ago. It is not necessary to remove the tie rod joint or the axle, although it would create more clearance to get the ball joint off. Heres what I did:

I left the 4 bottom nuts attached to the control arm, just so I had something to force the joint off with. I loosened the top nut as far as I could. Follow Jeff's advice and apply some pressure and take a hammer to it. Once it is free, then remove the top nut the rest of the way. Once it is seperated from the hub, remove the 3 bottom nuts. The new one goes on much easier

Good luck

 

right it's not NECESSARY..but it makes it so much easier.

 

Is it necessary to remove the axle lock nut with an impact wrench? I have always understood this to be so. On other FWD vehicles I have worked on, impacting was necessary.

 

i use the impact...never done it by hand...i believe it CAN be done w/o impact.

 

You'd have to be damn strong...torque on those nuts is high isn't it..like 150ftlb? Crucial for wheel bearing loading too..too little or too much torque and those bearings won't last long!

 

Right you are SIR!....I did it by hand (well with craftsman wrench and 2" steel pipe extension) I just needed enough leverage and a little elbow grease....not bad at all...guess all that lifting payed off.....ooohhhh....I'm so Buffed!

 

it's different with the sealed bearings, what we have. bearing load and etc are used in the old RWD domestics where the bearings are in the rotor blah blah blah..

nupe can do it...so can you.

 

Axle nut. One big azz socket 1 1/16" or something on a 1" drive breaker bar. Plus a cheater pipe of about 3ft. Stand on bar. Nuts come loose or tighten.

 

or...
set tank to 90psi..
slide on 34mm socket (i think that's it) to impact wrench
slide socket on to nut...pull trigger.
wait 3 seconds.
DONE!

 

or...
clip leads onto battery posts..
slide on socket..
slide on to nut
zap the nut off..

I need to get a 12v impact wrench..Milwaukee makes a nice one.
No place for me to power up a compressor or plug in an AC powered impact wrench..live in an apartment complex. You shoulda seen the reaction of people when i had my engine support out replacing the motor mounts and tranny mounts..classic. I don't give a f. I'm saving at least $50 an hour doing it myself.

 

you just said it needed to be the right tension and etc...what happened to that!!??

 

I'll put a torque wrench on it after I impact the nut on of course!!

 

90psi? Sometimes if that nut is stuck, it would take 120+psi.

 

Brings back memories of last week, when Matt was holding the 1" drive and 2 or 3 foot cheater bar and had this big grin on his face.

 

recommended PSI is 90 on the gun..so 120 maybe a weee bit high.

 

just make sure the bar is strong enough..it would hurt if it broke while u have your body weight on it or something.

 

All I'm saying is 90psi ain't gonna do jack if the nut is stuck. Plus the torque value is like 80-100ftlbs right?

 

Jeff...u having a blonde moment there buddy?
the gun operates at 90psi from the tank.
the gun itself can turn 500ft/lb.

if you can turn the nut with the gun you're using at their recommended PSI then you need a stronger gun.

 

90 psi is pressure. when you have a piston (we'll call it a piston for simplicity) inside the gun that's 5 sq inches, that puts 450 lb of turning force on the shaft. then you multiply the fact there's a 2lb hunk of metal swinging in circles inside there and you count in momentum, then you've got a lot more power than you think you would have otherwise.


oh, and Dan.. the "cheater bar" was a 3ft piece of 1.5" heavy wall pipe, rated for 3500psi. the ratchet weighs 20lb itself, and the pipe weighed another 20. I doubt if it'll break.
I had bill standing on the brakes on the car, and I was jumping on the end of the cheater bar. took about 5 jumps to break it loose. NOT fun.
spec is like 212ft lb or something like that.. this was well over 1000!

 

Shoulda had Bill stand on the bar. That would have been like 10,000 effective force. muhahhaa :0

 

I believe that was the only enjoyment Matt had during my visit for a few "simple" mods.

 

hehehe

when Kelly and I pulled up at the hotel to pick him up, he was outside by the car..
Kelly: "Is that Bill?"
Me: "I dunno. I thought bill was skinny"

 

300LB HICAS.

 

oh wait.. I just remembered something.. I got the axles off Bill's car with the impact wrench.. surprised me..
It was charles's car that I couldn't get apart with the impact wrench. that thing was a bear!

 

 

 

when I did mine I put the spare tire on and put the car on the ground to break the nut loose with a 3/4 drive wrench. I had to jump up and down a couple times on the wrench to get it loose but I probably weigh a little more than you I will invest in a good compressor and air tools one day.

 

Bill: "GET IN MA BELLY!!"
heehee

 

LOL!

 

Alright. I see an impact wrench will help. Actually, I NEED an impact wrench. I can get the really expensive one and walk right into divorce court, rent one, or buy one from Wal-Mart for ~$70 (I think it's 1/2 inch).

Anyone used the generic brand? An expensive one's out of the question though I wouldn't mind the Dewalt. Just throwing the question out there to get a feel for what folks have used.

All the hints/tips and discussion have been helpful.

Danke.

 

check out http://www.harborfreight.com

they have pretty good cheap stuff there. if you have a location thats local thats greats b/c its cheaper to buy locally than their thru their website.

 

Bill = moderator
DanNY = one of the oppressed