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im going to be replacing both lower ball joints on my car before i put everything back together. is there any special tools that i need like snap ring pliers? the how-to guide wasnt that clear about how to remove the ball joint itself, and the last thing id want to do is run out and buy something
i believe you will need a shop press or ball joint puller. that bitch is pressed in if i remember correctly.
yeah IIRC correctly from looking at the manual you'll need a puller. see page 19-2 of the 1986 master manual (downloadable from the wiki if you dont already have it :))
when i did mine i took off the whole hub and put it on a vice bench and hit the ball joint with a dye and it poped out....then i cleaned and put new moog lower ball joints and they slipped right in. took me and my uncle like 25 mins each side since we had to take off the axel nut and upper and lower joints.
I need to replace my ball joints how much is a new set?
From reading the how to you just hammer the old one out and gently tap the new one in, then just put the snap ring on and your good to go. Mine are still good, they aren't loose nor to tight, they are more on the tight side then loose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahmad89
mine were like 30 bucks a side.
The lower ball joint is in the steering knuckle. Looks like you need to remove the steering knuckle to get it out. When I remove pressed in ball joint similar to this, I put the rounded end of a ball pin hammer on the flat part of the ball joint & hit the other (flat side of the hammer) with a 4 lb. sledge hammer. Remove the snap ring with snap ring pliers first. I have special ball joint adapter (collars) to drive them back in though.
you can remove the ball joint by driving it out,after you take off the knuckle. make sure to remove the snap ring. hitting it will destroy it,but it's junk anyway. if you can find the adaptors to go on eithier side,you can force it back in with a big bench vise. you might be able to do this with big sockets. it shouldn't just slip in,it's a press fit. one thing that might make it eaisier,put the ball joint in the deeep freeze for a couple of hours,then heat up the lower party of the knuckle,don't get it too hot,just enough to make the metal expand a little. if you do this,it possibly might slip in with just a little pressure.
No need to pull all the frozen yard bird & hamburger meat out the freezer. You can use a small propane torch & heat up the steering knuckle around the outside of the ball joint. (had to do that before on some stubborn lower ball joints on CHRYSLER vehicles, but heated up the lower control arm)
well it's a combinaion of cooling the new lower bqll joints to make them shrink,and heating the area where they go in,to make it expand. makes it a lot eaisier.Quote:
Originally Posted by ddude2uc
I know what you mean Tim. Personally I just spray PB Blaster on the lower ball joint & let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then propane torch all around the outside of it's mating surface. Pound it with a ball pin hammer & sledge. Works like a charm without any freezer burn. :)
i decided that im a bit lazy on replacing the lower ball joint and the fact that i dont have a vise or anything to set it on, so im skipping this process of replacing it. when i picked up my new ball joints from elijah, they never came with the castle nut on them, and i appear to have misplaced my old castle nuts. im going to be running out to the local auto store tomorrow for some castle nuts, but does anyone know what thread size and pitch i need to get for the ball joint?
LOL good luck finding a metric castle nut,at the auto parts store. might want to get some one on here to send you a couple of old ones,from spare parts. i went to look for mine,and don't know where they went. you really don't want to skip the ball joint part, they are going to be a pain in the ass to replace later. they are also critical. if you have to,get a shop to install them, it's well worth the money. you can knock the old ones out your self. you don't want to trust a ball joint close to two decades old. the entire weight of the car sits on that ball joint,if it fails you are S.O.L.
its not so much the ball joint was worn or anything, the boots were just split apart from when elijah took out the motor
I changed my ball joints twice already and I mean both sides. Stupid cheap $18 ball joints siezed up in 11 months. Go Figure; never go for the cheapest parts. Anyways to change them just take off your axle nut, disconnect your tie rod and your upper control arm and take off the knuckle. then take off the snap ring, I never got new ones so I just left them out. Just take a hammer and just beat the bottom off; your changing it anyways so go to town. Once its off take your new one grease the side of the new ball joint and pack the inside with grease if it's not already greased, cheap ones are rarely well greased. Anyways put the new one in and gently tap it in with a hammer. Not in the centre but just the sides. Remember there is a dust ring clip thing you can get it off with a flat head screwdriver.
