DIY camry lower ball joint replacement in situ *PICS*
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nope, not at all. open end wrench worked perfectly fine for loosening it easily, especially the one was long handle (it's longer than my HFT 3/8'' dr torque wrench).
I bent the castle nut every time with the HFT side arm separator, because when I wasn't looking while tightening it, the arm was slipping off the stud and was bending the castle nut, wasn't that big of a deal in FL corner as the BJ popped off on the car the second try, but it turned out to be a problem in FR corner, all attempts to separate the BJ from knuckle on the car failed.
I ended up with severely bent castle nut and BJ stud which didn't want to pop off from knuckle while on the car. it did pop off easily when knuckle was off the car, since I was able to position the separator's arm better.
I bent the castle nut every time with the HFT side arm separator, because when I wasn't looking while tightening it, the arm was slipping off the stud and was bending the castle nut, wasn't that big of a deal in FL corner as the BJ popped off on the car the second try, but it turned out to be a problem in FR corner, all attempts to separate the BJ from knuckle on the car failed.
I ended up with severely bent castle nut and BJ stud which didn't want to pop off from knuckle while on the car. it did pop off easily when knuckle was off the car, since I was able to position the separator's arm better.
I just used this guide to do the lower ball joints on a '98 Prizm, and look forward to following this for my '00 Camry. The only comment I have is that the Harbor Freight crowfoot sockets were useless, on the new castle nuts, glad they were only $10. The Snap On torque wrench felt like it was getting to about 80 ft/lbs, then the crowfoot would slip off. The torque spec was 105 ft/lbs, and you can tell when it's just not going to make it another "point" of the castle nut even with 200 ft/lbs, at which point it's time to back it out to the last point and install the cotter pin.
Though I can say that the Harbor Freigh ball joint seperator was great, it made short work of breaking the seal. Then the ball joint came out fine, pulling it down while removing the castle nut.
Anyway, great write-up, thanks much for your efforts.
Though I can say that the Harbor Freigh ball joint seperator was great, it made short work of breaking the seal. Then the ball joint came out fine, pulling it down while removing the castle nut.
Anyway, great write-up, thanks much for your efforts.
thanks!
yeah, the crowfoots from HFT are not best, I had mine slip off a few times as well, once I totally bent the castle nut while using it (while loosening and old OEM nut on wife's car that is).
As for tightening, yes, I ran into same issue of leaving the new castle nut just below the specs, because otherwise the openings would not lineup with cotter pin holes, no big deal if it's tight enough and locked with a pin, it's not going anywhere
yeah, the crowfoots from HFT are not best, I had mine slip off a few times as well, once I totally bent the castle nut while using it (while loosening and old OEM nut on wife's car that is).
As for tightening, yes, I ran into same issue of leaving the new castle nut just below the specs, because otherwise the openings would not lineup with cotter pin holes, no big deal if it's tight enough and locked with a pin, it's not going anywhere
The interesting thing is, my 20yo Craftsman open-end wrench had zero issues breaking the nut loose. And when I gave up on the HFT crowfoots, I could easily use the Craftsman to get well past 105 ft/lb (then back off to the last hole). I might have been able to over-torque the nut to the next hole, yet something would have to give... the bolt would have to stretch, the threads would have to strip, etc. Seem to remember it was mentioned the objective is to seat the conical shaft properly, then backing off to the last hole probably would only give the thread the chance to pull back a few thousandths.
Humorously, I came across a YouTube video of someone who did the job as prescribed by the manual... remove the knuckle. Eghads, it was an involved video.
Humorously, I came across a YouTube video of someone who did the job as prescribed by the manual... remove the knuckle. Eghads, it was an involved video.
DIY Video Lower Ball Joint Replacement
Thanks to the information in this thread, I changed my Solara's right ball joint today.
Here's a video on how I did it.
The right side ball joint was leaking since at least last year. The rubber was now flat compared to the other side.
Getting the 2 nuts and 1 bolt off the lower control arm was easy enough. The castle nut and cotter pin cost me the most time.
My cotter pin sheared off so I couldn't pull it through. I used a rotary tool to grind it flat so I could try and rotate the castle nut around it.
Unfortunately that castle nut was really stuck on there and wouldn't budge. The open end 19 mm wrench started stripping the nut.
So I removed the drive shaft in anticipation of getting more space to work with the castle nut. However if the hub has ABS, the ring hampers a box end wrench or a socket from even going on there. Bad design IMO.
I ended up using a rotary tool and an angle grinder and ground the hole castle nut and stud off flush with the steering knuckle.
Here's what's left of the castle nut:
I then used a ball joint separator to press down on the castle nut against the steering knuckle. Since I no longer had a castle nut, I just used a smaller nut as a spacer for the tool and it popped right off.
Here's what the old ball joint looked like. I did try using a pickle fork and damaged the boot but it didn't work so I resorted to the ball joint separator.
The old ball joint felt very easy to move around (albeit not loose) by hand, while the new MOOG Problem Solver ball joint was extremely stiff.
It came with a grease nipple which I screwed in, but it seemed to have grease preinstalled already so I didn't add anymore.
Overall including taking pictures, videos, breaks and banging at that castle nut it took 5-6 hours to do the job. I could do it again in 2 hours, less if the castle nut/ cotter pin behaves.
Air tools definitely sped things up.
Thanks to the information in this thread, I changed my Solara's right ball joint today.
Here's a video on how I did it.
The right side ball joint was leaking since at least last year. The rubber was now flat compared to the other side.
Getting the 2 nuts and 1 bolt off the lower control arm was easy enough. The castle nut and cotter pin cost me the most time.
My cotter pin sheared off so I couldn't pull it through. I used a rotary tool to grind it flat so I could try and rotate the castle nut around it.
Unfortunately that castle nut was really stuck on there and wouldn't budge. The open end 19 mm wrench started stripping the nut.
So I removed the drive shaft in anticipation of getting more space to work with the castle nut. However if the hub has ABS, the ring hampers a box end wrench or a socket from even going on there. Bad design IMO.
I ended up using a rotary tool and an angle grinder and ground the hole castle nut and stud off flush with the steering knuckle.
Here's what's left of the castle nut:
I then used a ball joint separator to press down on the castle nut against the steering knuckle. Since I no longer had a castle nut, I just used a smaller nut as a spacer for the tool and it popped right off.
^ You couldn't have described the feeling any better! That's exactly what happened, I was startled by the POP and ringing in my ears. Skip to 3:34 in the video to see it in action.tighten the 19mm bolt until you hear a LOUD POP which will create a noise ringing in your ears for 5 seconds
Here's what the old ball joint looked like. I did try using a pickle fork and damaged the boot but it didn't work so I resorted to the ball joint separator.
The old ball joint felt very easy to move around (albeit not loose) by hand, while the new MOOG Problem Solver ball joint was extremely stiff.
It came with a grease nipple which I screwed in, but it seemed to have grease preinstalled already so I didn't add anymore.
Overall including taking pictures, videos, breaks and banging at that castle nut it took 5-6 hours to do the job. I could do it again in 2 hours, less if the castle nut/ cotter pin behaves.
Air tools definitely sped things up.
Thanks for sharing the experience, especially with that dust deflector there.
The old ball joint was a permanently lubed joint with a plastic socket. The advantage is they're maintenance free.
The new Moog (is this one made in the US or import?) has a metal seat and is considered heavy duty. The disadvantage is you HAVE TO LUBE it on install and every (or every-other) oil change depending on interval.
The lube you see there is only assembly lube. So make sure you lube it ASAP. Add enough until it starts to squeeze out the relief port by the threaded end of the stud.
The old ball joint was a permanently lubed joint with a plastic socket. The advantage is they're maintenance free.
The new Moog (is this one made in the US or import?) has a metal seat and is considered heavy duty. The disadvantage is you HAVE TO LUBE it on install and every (or every-other) oil change depending on interval.
The lube you see there is only assembly lube. So make sure you lube it ASAP. Add enough until it starts to squeeze out the relief port by the threaded end of the stud.
Thanks for clarifying. I've got to go purchase a grease gun and some grease.
What kind of grease should I use? Bearing grease?
Grease every or every-other oil change sounds like a pain. Aftermarket LBJ's at the local parts store are about $20/per, and Toyota counter are about $65/per. For the extra $90 for the set, I'd rather spend that, then think about it again for the next 10-15yrs. A few decades ago, a parts counter person asked me... are you fixing to sell, or fixing to keep? I fix to keep, so I'd use the factory parts, for this specific application. Yet that's just me. ; )
Yeah, having to grease the joints like in the dinosaurs days is a pain, and today's Moog joints can rust like crazy. But these are pretty smooth, solid feeling metal socket joints. One member warranty returned the rusting Moogs and bought Toyota OEM joints from ToyotaPartsMan. Sure, if you don't have to worry for the next 100K miles why not.
You can use either tubes or cans of Valvoline Durablend Synthetic Blend grease or Valvoline Multi-purpose Grease/GM $5-7 each. Cans are messier but easier to find and 50-cents cheaper. The Valvoline GM grease has higher Timken load number (60 Timken OK Load) than the Ford version (50) and actually than the Durablend too (45 Timken OK Load, same as Mobil-1 grease)! But I use the Durablend because it's suitable for CV joints. I use Redline CV-2 only for CV joints, leaving cheaper greases for ball joints because you flush out the old, drier grease every or every-other oil change. No need to waste CV-2.
I'm no tribologist, so don't know about using wheel bearing grease. Those may be too specific, dunno. For example, Timken has a Wheel Bearing grease (55 Timken OK Load) and an All-Purpose Industrial grease. The Timken All-Purpose Industrial grease is labeled suitable for ball joints but not the wheel bearing grease. So I wouldn't use plain wheel bearing grease unless it's labeled multi-purpose or it tells you it's suitable for suspension and chassis lubrication too.
Just like reading the label on ATF, make sure it's recommended for your application.
You can use either tubes or cans of Valvoline Durablend Synthetic Blend grease or Valvoline Multi-purpose Grease/GM $5-7 each. Cans are messier but easier to find and 50-cents cheaper. The Valvoline GM grease has higher Timken load number (60 Timken OK Load) than the Ford version (50) and actually than the Durablend too (45 Timken OK Load, same as Mobil-1 grease)! But I use the Durablend because it's suitable for CV joints. I use Redline CV-2 only for CV joints, leaving cheaper greases for ball joints because you flush out the old, drier grease every or every-other oil change. No need to waste CV-2.
I'm no tribologist, so don't know about using wheel bearing grease. Those may be too specific, dunno. For example, Timken has a Wheel Bearing grease (55 Timken OK Load) and an All-Purpose Industrial grease. The Timken All-Purpose Industrial grease is labeled suitable for ball joints but not the wheel bearing grease. So I wouldn't use plain wheel bearing grease unless it's labeled multi-purpose or it tells you it's suitable for suspension and chassis lubrication too.
Just like reading the label on ATF, make sure it's recommended for your application.
thanks speedkar9!
glad you got it replaced using this approach. sometimes it can be a pain or a bit troublesome if things are frozen, but for me it was only this way or the service in a shop. yeah, the deflector shield (that ring around hub where the drive shaft goes into) is a problem and so it blocks most sockets,you can either bend it and then straighten out or use flat wrenches like open end or crow foot.
JohnGD is right, the greasable types of ball joints (or any such joints) do NOT come prefilled with grease! fill it up with a greasse gun asap or the bearing will fail very quickly. Also it requires maintenance (refilling) at least once a year or so, one of reasons why I opted out and went with sealed designs like OEM.
glad you got it replaced using this approach. sometimes it can be a pain or a bit troublesome if things are frozen, but for me it was only this way or the service in a shop. yeah, the deflector shield (that ring around hub where the drive shaft goes into) is a problem and so it blocks most sockets,you can either bend it and then straighten out or use flat wrenches like open end or crow foot.
JohnGD is right, the greasable types of ball joints (or any such joints) do NOT come prefilled with grease! fill it up with a greasse gun asap or the bearing will fail very quickly. Also it requires maintenance (refilling) at least once a year or so, one of reasons why I opted out and went with sealed designs like OEM.
Thanks. I only learned about grease-able vs sealed OEM after I finished this job. I actually purchased the Moog ball joint last year but never got around to changing it.
I greased the ball joint today with a grease gun until the grease came out the top.
I still notice clunking in my steering wheel when turning - I guess it wasn't the ball joint but probably the steering shaft. What should I spray the UV joint with?
I saw a video of it for this generation camry on youtube
for the 5th gen (03) is it simialr or are the dimensions different? i heard my axle nuts were aftermarket and were 12 pt/star rather than hex, but are they the same or a similar size? thanks.
for the 5th gen (03) is it simialr or are the dimensions different? i heard my axle nuts were aftermarket and were 12 pt/star rather than hex, but are they the same or a similar size? thanks.
is moog a good ball joint and is it sealed and requires lubrication or is it pre lubricated, and low maintenance?
Is this similar?
Do you need that electric tool he is using to get the axle nut off, and do you need that thing he uses to hold thigns in place, the shiny silver thing he holds the parts with?
Is this similar?
Do you need that electric tool he is using to get the axle nut off, and do you need that thing he uses to hold thigns in place, the shiny silver thing he holds the parts with?
is squeaky tires when you turn (they are really squeaky, both on the old and new, i hear that loud squeak characteristic of a bad ball joint, or is that from something else?
also, it's the right side. i curbed the left side in july and my tire wasn't flat from that, BUT that tire had the steel belts showing by september and i recently replaced that one
the other tire was flat and it also had steel belts showing at the time of being flat (RIGHT FRONT) and i put my spare on, and then i curbed the car and destroyed the spare (it was a 25 dollar used tire, thankfully) and that curbing bent my right rim way out of shape. my left front rim was belt as a restul of the july curbing and my tire would lose air to about 25 psi, until discount tire was able to bend it back into shape and then it was stable, so they saved one wheel, but not the other (right) and my right ball joint in the front went bad, so could it be that it was from curbing that made my ball joint go bad, or was it due before the curbing or was it a combination of age and curbing? if i curb a new ball joint, would that make it go bad as well?
some mechanics don't aceept customer parts, but i found a few in the area that do, and one wants 120 on labor but one wants 70 on labor and one wants 75 on labor, but i could save 70 if I do it myself and the part is 42.99 from aap but i'm using a 5 dollar coupon so i could save lots by DIYing but 70 isn't bad either, if i were to hire a mechanic to do it
i wonder if those people would drop the pan as well for a cheap price on say my camry
the other tire was flat and it also had steel belts showing at the time of being flat (RIGHT FRONT) and i put my spare on, and then i curbed the car and destroyed the spare (it was a 25 dollar used tire, thankfully) and that curbing bent my right rim way out of shape. my left front rim was belt as a restul of the july curbing and my tire would lose air to about 25 psi, until discount tire was able to bend it back into shape and then it was stable, so they saved one wheel, but not the other (right) and my right ball joint in the front went bad, so could it be that it was from curbing that made my ball joint go bad, or was it due before the curbing or was it a combination of age and curbing? if i curb a new ball joint, would that make it go bad as well?
some mechanics don't aceept customer parts, but i found a few in the area that do, and one wants 120 on labor but one wants 70 on labor and one wants 75 on labor, but i could save 70 if I do it myself and the part is 42.99 from aap but i'm using a 5 dollar coupon so i could save lots by DIYing but 70 isn't bad either, if i were to hire a mechanic to do it
i wonder if those people would drop the pan as well for a cheap price on say my camry
i'm working on this on a gen 5 now. I got a moog with a nylon locking nut. My issue is, do I have to press the ball joint in? The locking nut is still too loose and I think I angled it incorectly as the ball joint is too loose and is still moving but won't tighten any further. Then, I try loosening the ball joint but that won't work either as it's a locking nut! What shouljd I do now? Go get another nylon locking nut? THis part is from advnaced auto, or cut it off with a dremmel tool and start over with another ball joint warrantied from advanced auto parts? Thanks.
finished, finally, the ball joint (2nd round, 1st round was 2 weeks ago but improperly installed, due to confusion over the locknut, not putting it on straight, I used the jack to "press" the ball joint in and it worked well.
Does the upper ball joint go bad, or no, it'd be harder to do, and how do you know if your lower control arm is about to go, too? Thanks.
Does the upper ball joint go bad, or no, it'd be harder to do, and how do you know if your lower control arm is about to go, too? Thanks.
Fenixus, An outstanding DIY write-up – better than any manual. I plan on replacing both the lower control arm (LCA) and lower ball joint (LBJ) on my wife’s 145K mile 04 V6 Camry and will certainly be using this DIY as my primary guide. What are your thoughts/recommendations regarding sequence of replacements. Is it better to replace the LBJ first and then LCA or vice versa? Thank you.
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Thank you for your write up and video. I did this job with basic hand tools, torque wrench, floor Jack and Jack stands. Plus ball joint separator tool. The whole process of removing old ball joint and installing new ball joint took me 5 hours including pick up and clean up.DIY Video Lower Ball Joint Replacement
Thanks to the information in this thread, I changed my Solara's right ball joint today.
Here's a video on how I did it.
The right side ball joint was leaking since at least last year. The rubber was now flat compared to the other side.
Getting the 2 nuts and 1 bolt off the lower control arm was easy enough. The castle nut and cotter pin cost me the most time.
My cotter pin sheared off so I couldn't pull it through. I used a rotary tool to grind it flat so I could try and rotate the castle nut around it.
Unfortunately that castle nut was really stuck on there and wouldn't budge. The open end 19 mm wrench started stripping the nut.
So I removed the drive shaft in anticipation of getting more space to work with the castle nut. However if the hub has ABS, the ring hampers a box end wrench or a socket from even going on there. Bad design IMO.
I ended up using a rotary tool and an angle grinder and ground the hole castle nut and stud off flush with the steering knuckle.
Here's what's left of the castle nut:
I then used a ball joint separator to press down on the castle nut against the steering knuckle. Since I no longer had a castle nut, I just used a smaller nut as a spacer for the tool and it popped right off.
^ You couldn't have described the feeling any better! That's exactly what happened, I was startled by the POP and ringing in my ears. Skip to 3:34 in the video to see it in action.
Here's what the old ball joint looked like. I did try using a pickle fork and damaged the boot but it didn't work so I resorted to the ball joint separator.
The old ball joint felt very easy to move around (albeit not loose) by hand, while the new MOOG Problem Solver ball joint was extremely stiff.
It came with a grease nipple which I screwed in, but it seemed to have grease preinstalled already so I didn't add anymore.
Overall including taking pictures, videos, breaks and banging at that castle nut it took 5-6 hours to do the job. I could do it again in 2 hours, less if the castle nut/ cotter pin behaves.
Air tools definitely sped things up.
Glenn
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