[NapalmFTW]

So I attacked the castle nut with the sawzall... finally got it to turn... ugh!

Eventually got the ball joint out of the knuckle...

Ok.. How the heck do I get the new ball joint onto the LCA???

I can't pry on the LCA enough to get it to come down enough to get the BJ bolts to get into the LCA. I can't jack up the strut because it is pulling on the inner CV joint (I have a sneaking suspicion we may have already busted that... I hope not.).

Any clues?

 

[fenixus]

So I attacked the castle nut with the sawzall... finally got it to turn... ugh!

Eventually got the ball joint out of the knuckle...

Ok.. How the heck do I get the new ball joint onto the LCA???

I can't pry on the LCA enough to get it to come down enough to get the BJ bolts to get into the LCA. I can't jack up the strut because it is pulling on the inner CV joint (I have a sneaking suspicion we may have already busted that... I hope not.).

Any clues?

grats!

I was able to move the LCA up and down easily pushing on it with my palm and maneuvering the bottom of ball joint (it twists and swivels) so the bottom studs fit through holes in LCA - that is after the BJ was already bolted to the knuckle (just make it snug, do NOT forget to lock it later!).

I was able to do this with both old LCAs on car and new ball joints and also later on when installing only new LCAs on used ball joints, requires some force, but the trick was to twist the ball joint base (with studs) at correct angle to allow fitment. may take a little while until you find the correct setting so things fit together.

 

[NapalmFTW]

Ok, I'll try... its getting dark and I am exhausted from working on this damn thing all week. LOL.

Thanks.

 

[fenixus]

Ok, I'll try... its getting dark and I am exhausted from working on this damn thing all week. LOL.

Thanks.

I understand, good luck

 

[NapalmFTW]

So I managed with the combination of a jack, a bar and me on my back pushing with my feet, to get the ball joint into the LCA.

I bolted the two nuts on there, but when I come to get the bolt in for the center hole, it doesn't line up! Oy!

I don't know if I have to jack up the whole thing to get it all level, or if the ball joint was manufactured wrong. If that's the latter I am not happy LOL.

I will never buy this old a car again unless its from somewhere that doesn't salt the roads.

 

[fenixus]

So I managed with the combination of a jack, a bar and me on my back pushing with my feet, to get the ball joint into the LCA.

I bolted the two nuts on there, but when I come to get the bolt in for the center hole, it doesn't line up! Oy!

I don't know if I have to jack up the whole thing to get it all level, or if the ball joint was manufactured wrong. If that's the latter I am not happy LOL.

I will never buy this old a car again unless its from somewhere that doesn't salt the roads.

grats

the 3rd one will NOT line up unless you remove both front wheels while the whole axle is off ground (jack in center). I learned the hard way ...

 

[NapalmFTW]

Ahhhh... I don't know why, but that makes sense I guess.. LOL.

I'm done for the day. I'll try that tomorrow.. I'll loosen everything up and jack the car in the middle...

I am NOT attempting the other ball joint just yet. Although I DO need an alignment anyway - the drivers side tire is scuffed on the inside almost all the way to the radials. Just like the original one was (this is a rotated rear that I have on the front).

 

[JohnGD]

You should place the front end on jack stands so both wheel are off the ground. This way the sway bar is not tensioned and you won't be working against it. Don't rely on the floor jack itself.

 

[fenixus]

You should place the front end on jack stands so both wheel are off the ground. This way the sway bar is not tensioned and you won't be working against it. Don't rely on the floor jack itself.

hey John glad to see you still around here
yup, jack in center and jack stands at sides are the best and safest way to do this (and actually only way in terms of LCA and BJ on either side), I strongly agree.

 

[NapalmFTW]

The sway bar is no longer a factor... I removed the sway bar link in preparation to replace it.

So it's not putting any pressure on the LCA as far as I can tell. But I'll try it anyway once I get off work.

That or my work buddy is going to come over and we're going to just remove the steering knuckle from the strut and do it the right way.

 

[NapalmFTW]

Ok. Buddy from work came over and I think he loosened the ball joint nut in the steering knuckle and managed to bolt the Ball joint to the LCA.

Installed a new sway bar link, my new rotor and bolted it all back together. Car feels a lot better right away (even though only one side is done).

Anxious to get the other side fixed now too - that's for another day though.

We had to cut the bolts off the old sway bar link with a dremel and a cutting wheel. They were completely rusted/fused. The new ones went in with plenty of anti seize.

I really wouldn't reccommend doing the ball joints in situ unless your car is from somewhere that doesn't use salt on the roads. It would've been a simpler job had everything not been rusted.

Edit: I forgot to say, we broke two breaker bars trying to get the CV axle nut off. 1/2 in drive.

 

[fenixus]

glad you've got it done guys!

can't believe how hard it was ... we have salt on roads in Winter too, but I guess less then you get ... however my old '92 Buick was rusted inside out, so who knows how my car will look like in next 8-10 years ...

all I can say is that CV axle nut on wife's car (since 2000 driven daily in NJ) has also a badly rusted stuff ... thankfully haven't had to remove those yet ...

I will put a warning in OP, that this procedure is only recommended on not so much rusted cars or problems will happen down the road.

Ok. Buddy from work came over and I think he loosened the ball joint nut in the steering knuckle and managed to bolt the Ball joint to the LCA.

Installed a new sway bar link, my new rotor and bolted it all back together. Car feels a lot better right away (even though only one side is done).

Anxious to get the other side fixed now too - that's for another day though.

We had to cut the bolts off the old sway bar link with a dremel and a cutting wheel. They were completely rusted/fused. The new ones went in with plenty of anti seize.

I really wouldn't reccommend doing the ball joints in situ unless your car is from somewhere that doesn't use salt on the roads. It would've been a simpler job had everything not been rusted.

Edit: I forgot to say, we broke two breaker bars trying to get the CV axle nut off. 1/2 in drive.

 

[NapalmFTW]

I am still scared to attempt the other side I am not an idiot when it comes to working on cars its just this thing is rusted/corroded so badly.

I NEED new tires and something is out of whack in the alignment department so I have to get all this squared away before new tires - no point spending $$$ on tires to have them ruined by relatively cheap suspension components.

It's also 30% off at work so I am loading up on parts.

 

[fenixus]

I am still scared to attempt the other side I am not an idiot when it comes to working on cars its just this thing is rusted/corroded so badly.

I NEED new tires and something is out of whack in the alignment department so I have to get all this squared away before new tires - no point spending $$$ on tires to have them ruined by relatively cheap suspension components.

It's also 30% off at work so I am loading up on parts.

just do it
you won't be able to move further until you complete this one and to do that you need at least start it to be able to finish it

get some 5hr energy drink, those always helped me tackle serious jobs in no time

 

[fenixus]

huh, so I will put my own DIY soon to test ... this time on 13 years old ball joints and LCAs ... lots of rust, car driven in NJ since it was built LOL ... will see ... looks like a big fight ahead of me LOL!

 

[BMR]

Lotsa luck to ya, Fen! When I did mine, the big castle nut was frozen solid. I had to use a dremel with a cutoff disk to saw the nut in half lengthwise on both sides, then split it off using a big ol' hammer and a chisel.

 

[JohnGD]

Fen - changing the wheel bearing and hub this time? Or maybe with the CV boot if it starts to tear.

For add'l reference, a Motor.com article on frozen fasteners:

By Dan Marinucci April 2013

"Dealing with rusted or ‘frozen’ fasteners is a fact of life for techs in many areas of the country. Safely removing them without collateral damage requires patience, the right tools and steady hands."

http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=2036

 

[fenixus]

Lotsa luck to ya, Fen! When I did mine, the big castle nut was frozen solid. I had to use a dremel with a cutoff disk to saw the nut in half lengthwise on both sides, then split it off using a big ol' hammer and a chisel.

Thanks!

that's what I'm afraid of ... hopefully all it needs on my car is just plenty of PB Blaster, a few good whacks and a good twist ...

it would suck if it called for a dremel ... it's possible, I can get one from Home Depot and run it off inverter plugged in to cig lighter in dash ... just, it would suck anyways LOL...

Fen - changing the wheel bearing and hub this time? Or maybe with the CV boot if it starts to tear.

For add'l reference, a Motor.com article on frozen fasteners:

By Dan Marinucci April 2013

"Dealing with rusted or ‘frozen’ fasteners is a fact of life for techs in many areas of the country. Safely removing them without collateral damage requires patience, the right tools and steady hands."

http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=2036

Thanks!
nope, not touching the bearings nor the axles unless I have to. if I end up unbolting the whole knuckle and bringing it to a local shop for ball joints loosening ... then still, I won't do the bearings+hubs, because they are darn expensive locally like $100 per side for National hub brand plus bearing extra, been there done that on 1mz ... not planning to follow that route unless I have all required (Timken from rockauto!) parts on hand first

Thanks for the link, will look through just in case I need some ideas if things go South LOL.

I think it might be wise to start the job (calipers+rotors+pads+hoses+bj's+outer tie rod ends) with ball joints first and see where I end up at a little while later

 

[fenixus]

phew! job is done, both sides Ball joints replaced ... that was a fight!

in Summary - car is 13 yrs old, old OEM ball joints, everything rusted to hell (welcome to New Jersey!):

a) driver side
took me nearly 3 hours to remove the stupid cotter pin! ended up breaking it off on both sides and hammering the leftover pieces back into the stud.
Thanks to former PB Blaster treatment, the castle nut was very easy to loosen.
HFT Side Separator was able to pop the ball joint loose on second attempt (1st one bent castle nut a bit, it slipped).
After that I noticed that castle nut started spinning together with the stud, so had to rip the boot apart and hold the stud with tight vice grips while wrenching on the castle nut with other hand ... took a while, but it was doable on car..

The rest was easy, installed new Beck & Arnley BJ ... and got pissed a bit about sizes of bolts and nuts ... castle nut was 22mm (OEM is 19mm), so had to feel-wrench the tightness of castle nut without torque wrench based on former experience and looks of such parts.
Lower bolts (to LCA) and nuts in B&A BJ are a joke, only on1 bolt has a threaded hole (the one upside down), the other two are loose and held only by nuts. I believe I stripped one of those two nuts, as cannot tighten it down to specs, it jumps.

b) passenger side
Was able to remove the cotter pin in one piece after 30 mins of hammering, using pliers, screw driver and such LOL!
Thanks to PB Blaster, loosening the castle nut was a breeze.
Wasn't able to pop the ball joint stud free of knuckle, somehow my side separator kept slipping off the stud and bent the castle nut several times. ended up unbolting the whole knuckle (requires unbolting 2x 23mm big strut bolts and 30mm axle nut).
Was able to easily pop the BJ free off the car, but of course then the castle nut started spinning together with the stud, so again had to rip the boot apart and hold the stud down (by some flange) with tight vice grips while loosening the nut with a wrench using other hand, it was quite a fight too LOL!

some pics from today (passenger side, the more interesting one):

Installed new B&A BJ and same complaints as before, had no crow foot in size of 22mm to torque down the castle nut properly, so had to feel-wrench it.
Bottom bolts/nuts are a pain, the two loose ones held by nuts I didn't even bother torquing down to specs from fear of damaging the threads, they are tight though. The onlt one sitting in threaded hole (the only one upside down) is torqued down to specs properly.

 

[fenixus]

also, those long handle metric combo wrenches (going up to 26mm) are very handy! couldn't do the job without them.

http://www.harborfreight.com/11-pie...long-handle-combination-wrench-set-47067.html