DIY camry lower ball joint replacement in situ *PICS*

[fenixus]

Pre-requisites (based on tools I use):
-21mm deep wall impact socket (for wheel lug nut loosening/removal/re-installation) + a 3/8'' drill with 1/2'' socket adapter and/or with a 1/2'' dr torque wrench
-12mm socket 3/8'' drive (for brake line bracket on strut)
-17mm socket 1/2'' drive (for caliper bracket bolts to knuckle and ball joint bolts/nuts to Lower Control Arm) - a 3'' or 4'' extension comes in handy
-19mm crowfoot 3/8'' drive like this set from HFT, with an adapter from 3/8'' dr to to 1/2'' dr (90ft-lbs calls for 1/2'' dr torque wrench)
NOTE: if you are using or planning to use aftermarket MOOG (bleh!) ball joints, then you will need a 25mm or 1-1/16'' combo wrench and crowfoot for torquing it down
-4'' extension 3/8'' drive (for 19mm crowfoot)
NOTE: for this job to work flawlessly you NEED a 1/2'' dr torque wrench being able to work in both forward and reverse direction!
-needle nose pointed pliers (for cotter pins)
-home repair hammer is handy for bending cotter pins legs or hammering on pliers to pull them out
-ball joint separator (with side arms like this one from HFT)
NOTE: a Pitman Arm puller or Tie Rod End puller WILL NOT work here
-19mm combo wrench (open end for initial tightening/loosening of castle nut, box end will be handy for ball joint separator bolt)
-PB Blaster for rusted/seized bolts/nuts
-paper towels & rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) to clean things up from old spilled grease
-small wire brush to clean off the rust (optional)
-1/2'' breaker bar (totally optional, I used my 1/2'' click-stop torque wrench to loosen what I needed)

Click-stop torque wrenches used here were both from HFT:
3/8'' drive
1/2'' drive

gen4 Torque specs:
-caliper bracket bolts: 79ft-lbs
-brake hose bracket to strut: 22ft-lbs
-ball joint:
a) lower 17mm nuts/bolt: 94ft-lbs
b) 19mm OEM (or 25mm MOOG) castle nut: 90ft-lbs
-alloy wheels lug nuts: 77ft-lbs
-steel wheels lug nuts: 100ft-lbs

Steps:
1. Loosen the wheel lug nuts.

2. Jack up ONE corner of front end and secure it with a jack stand if possible.
YOU NEED TO LEAVE THE OTHER WHEEL ON THE GROUND! (learned it the hard way).

3. Remove the wheel on corner you are working on.

4. Unbolt the brake hose bracket 12mm bolt from the strut.

5. Unbolt the caliper with its bracket (2 17mm bolts) and pull it out of rotor. Once the brake hose is unbolted from the strut, you can rest the caliper on the ground (if car is raised low, but enough for wheels to be off the ground, using a 2t compact jack here).

6. slide out the rotor and rest it against the wall somewhere (do NOT put it flat on ground, to avoid collecting dirt and pieces of rocks!)
You should end up having something similar to this:


7. use pliers (and hammer on it if necessary) to bend and remove the old cotter pins from the old ball joint castle nut.

8. loosen the 19mm (OEM) / 25mm (MOOG in picture, used actually a 1-1/16'' combo wrench to loosen it) castle nut so it spins freely. Loosen it until it touches the dust shield deflector ring right above it.
NOTE: you NEED the other wheel to touch the ground now! it won't work if you raised the whole front axle up (things will just start turning on both sides).


9. remove 2 nuts and 1 bolt (all 17mm) on the bottom of ball joint.

10. Pry down on the LCA until you are able to slide the bottom of ball joint out of holes and put it UNDER the LCA (you may need to turn ball joint body to sides to achieve that, I had to, it should turn to sides easily), like this (pic taken before swinging the ball joint bracket under the LCA):

Note: the scissor jack supporting the spindle is totally optional and actually unneeded as the knuckle is still bolted to the strut, nothing is coming apart so skip that.

11. Use the ball joint separator like in picture to lock it on the castle nut (loosened) and right below the steering knuckle arm, tighten the 19mm bolt until you hear a LOUD POP which will create a noise ringing in your ears for 5 seconds - that means the ball joint has popped out from the knuckle


SPECIAL THANKS TO PMESFUN ON BRILLIANT SUGGESTION ON HOW TO DO THIS!

12. remove the castle nut pulling the ball joint down at same time, eventually it will come off and you should be able to swing the old ball joint out:
FR side:


FL side reference pic:


13. clean things a bit with paper towels and/or alcohol and wire brushes (rust).

14. insert the new ball joint and catch it with the new castle nut until snug.

15. pry down on the LCA to insert (may need to turn the ball joint body to sides) the new ball joint into the LCA holes, once there, tighten them ALL to specs (17mm nuts+bolt all at 94ft-lbs)

16. tighten the BJ castle nut to specs using 19mm combo wrench and eventually the 19mm crowfoot on the extension and torque wrench (NOTE: access it from bottom and the front bumper side, accessing from top or the other side will NOT work unless you have the swivel extensions, I don't)

When tightening the new castle nut to specs with a crowfoot, extension and a torque wrench, generally you need to put it from the bottom (torque wrench on reverse setting), and on the front bumper side and it will work fine.

here is an example video how to do this:

You Tube

You Tube

17. once the new castle nut has been tightened to 90ft-lbs you may notice that the cotter pin holes are NOT aligned anymore. That's OK! The torque is needed to insert the cone shaped ball stud into the steering knuckle hole, not to hold it down. You can loosen the nut now, e.g. with a 19mm open end wrench until holes get aligned, insert the cotter pins and lock it. Then tighten the castle nut until snug (doesn't need to be 90ft-lbs anymore, nothing is going anywhere anyways).
*official guides say that the cotter pin should be inserted ONLY if holes are lined up at or above the OEM specs.
I did it this way for the castle nuts on outer tie rod ends (was initially ending up half way between slots when using OEM torque, not always though and only on old tie rods, new ones lined up instantly), but the ball joints castle nuts lined up "almost" (literally 0.5mm past the ideal slot position after 90ft-lbs was applied, could be that precision of my 1/2'' dr torque wrench was coming into play here), tried tightening more to the next slot, but it was impossible to do with my setup, it called for waaaay more torque than 3/8'' crowfoot or extension/adapter could handle before breaking apart, so I did it my way (loosen the nut to insert the pin, then tighten it to snug).
Another explanation could be that 90ft-lbs has already seated the stud fully into the taper and there was no way to tighten the castle nut more (and pull the stud higher at same time), because it was already fully seated. Consider this if you come across the same trouble.

PIC of new FR side OEM ball joint installed:


PIC of new FL side OEM ball joint installed:


18. Re-install rest of stuff in reverse order and ENJOY YOUR NEW BALL JOINTS installed with no hassle of steering knuckle removal and using a bench vice and/or replacing the deflector dust shield (old one may get broken this way)!

19. Test drive the car and Have a cold one later

Reference pic of an old ball joint (driver side, 6-month old Moog ball joint in pic):

[bigbird]

nice write up

[ajkalian]

I need to do this to my car soon. It's very helpful to have a step by step DIY to guide you through it.


Very nice job.


.

[JohnGD]

Great writeup! I was trying to visualize having the 4" extension on the crowfoot. Does this help get around the outer CV joint?

[fenixus]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by bigbird

nice write up

No probs! I had to do this job anyways, so took some pics and here you have it handy
Thanks man!

Originally Posted by ajkalian

I need to do this to my car soon. It's very helpful to have a step by step DIY to guide you through it.


Very nice job.


.

Thanks!

That won't work from the top, CV joint boot and clip comes in way, so either you need to use that setup at an angle on castle nut (it was a fail for me) or you would need swivel extensions (I don't have such). I tried and actually I bent the OEM castle nut tabs by using the crowfoot at a slight angle when trying to reach it with extension from the top (by CV joint which actually comes in way unless you have swivel extensions). it's a no no.

What you need to do, is to connect the extension to crowfoot from the bottom and switch the torque wrench to reverse this way it works like a charm with normal extensions and no hassle

Originally Posted by JohnGD

Great writeup! I was trying to visualize having the 4" extension on the crowfoot. Does this help get around the outer CV joint?

[JohnGD]

I see. So those with older HFT torque wrenches that can do tightening only take note!

[fenixus]

yup, the torque wrench must be able to work (click) when working reverse (normally loosening with things up right).
added a note to pre-requisites.

Originally Posted by JohnGD

I see. So those with older HFT torque wrenches that can do tightening only take note!

[Yuko]

Nice DIY. How's the alignment with the new ball joints and have you tried returning the good ol' Moogs?

[fenixus]

Thanks

I actually returned already both broken Moog ball joints (in Toyota boxes) to a local Advance Auto store.
Both "regular" cashiers had no clue how to make the online order (local pickup) return happen, and actually one of them tried convincing me it's not possible since I ordered online (she was a rude latino girl using phrases like "you are not listening to me", "it can't be done because it was ordered online" and shit like that).

Fortunately the very nice and sharp female manager was all-knowing and instructed them how to do so, successfully giving me a full credit card refund on both purchases (they were separate for sakes of online discount $20 off over $50 on each)

One happy camper here

My wallet says, it cost me nothing in parts to switch from MOOG to OEM

as per alignment it feels OK, however since I have a lifetime alignment service in Firestone, I will pay them a visit next Saturday to confirm it's all alright for sure.

Originally Posted by Yuko

Nice DIY. How's the alignment with the new ball joints and have you tried returning the good ol' Moogs?

[WaxonWaxStillOn]

Nice purple floor.

Is that made from recycled tires?..if so, looks like it would be a heckuva lot more comfortable than cement!

[fenixus]

LOL! it's my cellpone's camera shifting the white color balance slightly when using flash
that "floor" is actually a parking lot asphalt

Originally Posted by WaxonWaxStillOn

Nice purple floor.

Is that made from recycled tires?..if so, looks like it would be a heckuva lot more comfortable than cement!

[OceanView]

Nice Write up!

I have a question, Looking at the first few photos, I cannot tell that the lower ball joints needed to be replaced. Is there something that shows wear that I cannot see in the photos or ?

Thanks

[fenixus]

it was based on driving experience. both were causing a single pop sound when turning wheels fully to either direction. both were causing a funky jerking of steering wheel when going over bumps or pot holes, the steering wheel was literally moving on its own.

plus I noticed lots of minor problems with both ball joints when greasing them like 2 weeks ago ... it came up that both were leaking grease from zerk fittings, one was severely leaking from the boot - not in pics above, but here is an example of passenger side ball joint leaking like hell:


Funny thing that at the time of taking that pic the driver side looked good, but yesterday I found it pissing grease while driving, so the whole inside of the rim had literally a handful of grease blobs everywhere. also the whole surrounding fender liner around the wheel (and strut) had a trace of grease from the ball joint

oh and the last thing, have you noticed how much rust those 6 month old Moog joints collected on exposed metal parts?

Originally Posted by OceanView

Nice Write up!

I have a question, Looking at the first few photos, I cannot tell that the lower ball joints needed to be replaced. Is there something that shows wear that I cannot see in the photos or ?

Thanks

[WaxonWaxStillOn]

Originally Posted by fenixus

LOL! it's my cellpone's camera shifting the white color balance slightly when using flash
that "floor" is actually a parking lot asphalt

Haha, I was convinced by one of those shots...freakin deep purple. I'm thinking this man put down a $5-10k floor in his garage/driveway, like an all-weather basketball court, and in my favorite color. Can toyotanation get more awesome??

Thanks for the writeup. No doubt I'll be coming back to it within the next few years. Can't believe these moogs failed on you in 6 months. Kudos for stepping up and changing them again, what a pia to have to do twice.

[fenixus]

LOL! I can imagine what you were thinking seeing that nice deep purple floor

Yeah, those moogs were terrible ... sucked big times to be honest, failed already before I had a chance to re-grease them for the first time ... even purchased a nice 5,000psi lever grease gun with awesome synthetic Mobil1 grease cartridge (14oz) and all for nothing... I hate Moog. they suck! the quality of their parts is worse than some Chinese sweatshop parts sold in US for peanuts!

I installed them in the end of Winter (Feb '11) while doing the front wheel bearings+hubs ... soon after I realized what a bad choice it was ... ever since then I was looking for a way to swap them with OEM parts without touching other stuff (steering knuckle removal sucks). with the invaluable help of fellow TN members suggesting tools and approaches all worked out like a charm

Originally Posted by WaxonWaxStillOn

Haha, I was convinced by one of those shots...freakin deep purple. I'm thinking this man put down a $5-10k floor in his garage/driveway, like an all-weather basketball court, and in my favorite color. Can toyotanation get more awesome??

Thanks for the writeup. No doubt I'll be coming back to it within the next few years. Can't believe these moogs failed on you in 6 months. Kudos for stepping up and changing them again, what a pia to have to do twice.