35 replies to this topic

[UBSTANKN]

Most of the problems I have seen with ball joints appear to be a failure to break the taper. After a whack or two, (or two hundred) I did manage to break the taper. The next step is where everything ground to a halt. I bent the labs on the lock washer and spent the next hour wrestling with the retaining nut. I had the appropriate 1-1/2" socket and pry/try as I might, I could not get the nut loose. My trusty breaker bar has been cracking nuts left and right during this whole process. Just wondering if anyone had any tips. I tried lots of penetrating fluid to no avail.

This is where I'm stuck.



Thanks for any advice

-Mike

[TypeR_Mini]

hey Mike. I've recently gone to a front disk conversion and I can definitely relate to your woes of seized components. I am lucky enough to have a compressor and impact gun at home and it has made things alot easier. If you don't have access to either, maybe you could add a piece of steel piping to your breaker bar for more leverage? Of course doing so, you risk damaging/breaking you tools as well as injury so if you do decide to do this please wear eye protection at the very least! If this doesn't work then you may have to bring the hub assembly to a garage where they may be nice enough to try and gun the bugger out for you. Hopefully someone can provide more help. good luck!

[Deathrow]

I'll say this just because you are working at a funny angle.

You are 100% sure you're turning it the right way? I think we've all been there, working at a strange angle and are just sat trying to turn it the wrong way to loosen it.

[MiniLuke]

Remove entire hub and put in a vice?

Apply heat too.

[grahama]

My suggestion is also to apply hear and check rotation of the nut !! Foiling all this then it is off with the hub and very carefully grind off the nut and fit a new one. This was my last resort but worked fine.



If resorting to this then watch the depth of grinding or it is a new swivel hub too !!!

Graham

[jaydee]

You'll NEVER undo the baljjoint that way, you got no pivot point, remove it completely and put it in a vice.

[Stevie W]

As others have said,
Remove the entire hub and clamp it securely in a vice with the nut you're trying to undo facing upwards, that'll help you ensure you're trying to undo it in the right direction!
Place a thin piece of wood against the outer bearing surface and a larger piece behind the inner hub surface and do the vice up real tight.
I always found that if you make sure the lock washer is hammered right down flat against the hub, you'll find the socket/ring spanner will fit over the nut better and this reduces the chance of it slipping off!
I always try and use a large ring spanner then give the end of it a few sharp blows with a hammer. This usually frees it off.
If using a socket, make sure its a good fit and try a breaker bar on the end of the socket handle, then give it all you've got!
Cheers, Steve

[Big_Adam]

I used a BIG old ring spanner. Put it on the ball joint, then put the balljoint back onto the bottom arm, wack the spanner with a hammer till it comes off.

[mike.]

I did balljoints on my car once with the hubs still attached. It worked but its so much easier to take the hub off and get it in a vice. For the effort it takes to split the ball joints and take the hub off its really worth doing.

Also the trial and error shimming process isn't fun with the hub on the car let me tell ya'

[dklawson]

There is not much I can add. Consider this one more vote for removing the hub so you can work on this while it is held in a vise. It will make removal of the nut and shimming the new joint much easier.

By the way, use the search here for ball joints. Each year there are several threads that run which discuss tips for how to get the ball joints apart and shimmed properly during reassembly.

[UBSTANKN]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I was really hoping I would be able to do it without removing the entire hub from the car, but at this point it may be my only option. I'm certain I was twisting the right way, but because the lower ball joint was disconnected, there was nothing to locate the bottom so the hub was twisting. It did make it very awkward to exert any force.

To get the hub off I just need to remove the top and lower ball joints and then crack the taper on the track rod end? When I put the hub back on the car, is there any recommendations for greasing up the splines or the hub?

I did a lot of searching and all I came up with was people asking about breaking the taper. I was luck enough to have a relatively easy time breaking the taper loose. If I'm removing the hub I may use it as an opportunity to replace some of the worn looking bushings.

Thanks again!

-Mike

[jaydee]

Use a balljoint splitter, like these:
http://sykes-pickava...& Splitters.pdf

You can replace ball joint in situ, but its a pain and certainly you will never do as you're doing in the pic, it will never work. You have no secure pivot point, the hub will just move about.

[dklawson]

Any grease you want on the splines will be fine. Its presence there would only be to prevent seizing, the splines don't move when the hub is all torqued up.

The caveat you do want to know about is that when you tighten the CV joint nut, you FIRST fit a large, thick flat washer WITHOUT the split conical washer in place. Torque the nut to full specified torque then carefully loosen the nut and remove the flat washer. Fit the split conical washer and re-torque the assembly to the specified torque and install the cotter pin. Torquing with the flat washer first insures that all the axial play is taken up before the conical washer is in place. If you skip the flat washer step there is a possibility that the conical washer will "bite" prematurely preventing you from taking up all the axial play.

Removing the hub from the car may sound like more work than you wanted but you will find it much easier to lap the balljoints and shim them with the hub held in a vise. It is worth the extra time to remove the hubs. As for removing/separating any and all of these tapered stem ball joints, you will have the best luck with a scissor type splitter. Loosen the small nut on the tapered stem but leave the nut in place to protect the threads. Fit the scissor type splitter and tighten it up until it seems way too tight. Then strike the tightening bolt on the splitter with a hammer (like you were driving the bolt as a nail). The shock under load will pop the joint apart easily. Do not count on simply tightening the splitter and skipping the hammer blow.

EDIT: Jaydee and I were typing at the same time. The splitter he posted the link to is the type I was calling a scissor type. You will find generic ones at places like Harbor Freight. They will be a little big but you can put pieces of scrap metal, nuts, etc between the moving jaw of the splitter and the ball joint to take up the space when using a larger splitter.

Edited by dklawson, 06 August 2012 - 12:02 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

Just a general addition to what others have said above, shock and unlock from halfords can be a god send. I was a bit sceptical before I used it but it has got stuff off that refuses other ways and you can use it where you wouldn't use heat such as by fuel pipes etc

[satvinder]

Where you located?? I got a battery gun that should (normally) be strong enough to un do that, failing that put the balljoint end in the vice jaws, a nice big leaver bar throu the bearing hole makin sure you don't damage anything, didn't matter to much in my case as I pulled all the bearings out, and try it that way