Fuster_Cluck

I am putting the suspension back together and went to tighten / torque the lower castle nut on the passengers side. Once the castle nut starts getting snug (not really tight at all) the threads (ball joint) starts to turn with the castle nut. Any ideas of how to fix this problem? I have the tie rod puller that is in the pic. Do I need to pop the ball joint again with the tie rod puller?



Thanks for any input!

smnowell

What I do in that case is use airtools to put it on....but if you don't have air tools at your disposal, I have heard that lightly hammering on the top of the balljoint (preferably with a rubber malet) will help reseat the threads (I believe Euclid uses this method).

CXHatchback

Either use an impact wrench, which works wonderfully, or you can get a set of needle-nose vise-grips to hold the shaft whileyou tighten it. Just be careful not to overtighten it so you can remove the pliers.

youngkow

What you want to do is put some washers on before you put the castle nut on, and then start tightening. Then loosen and remove a few washers, and retighten, and just repeat untill the ball joint is fully seated, and it won't spin. If you still don't get it, i'll try and draw a pic. Good luck!

smnowell

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by youngkow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What you want to do is put some washers on before you put the castle nut on, and then start tightening. Then loosen and remove a few washers, and retighten, and just repeat untill the ball joint is fully seated, and it won't spin. If you still don't get it, i'll try and draw a pic. Good luck!</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's a lot of washers to use....the ball joint has a fairly long thread to it...

youngkow

Not really, i just used 1/8" thick washers. And it worked great!

Fuster_Cluck

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b16a ferio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What I do in that case is use airtools to put it on....but if you don't have air tools at your disposal, I have heard that lightly hammering on the top of the balljoint (preferably with a rubber malet) will help reseat the threads (I believe Euclid uses this method).</TD></TR></TABLE>

Someone else also said to lightly hit the bottom of the ball joint with a rubber mallet or a piece of wood to seat the ball joint back in place. I'll try this and if it doesn't work I'm getting the air gun out.

What can go wrong down the road with the ball joint not seated properly (if I were to use an impact)?

rainmanEK

Just hit it with Air Gun, I run into this Problem alot!


You Need to sneak up on it!


Eric

Noe Kozz

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid93Hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Someone else also said to lightly hit the bottom of the ball joint with a rubber mallet or a piece of wood to seat the ball joint back in place. I'll try this and if it doesn't work I'm getting the air gun out.

What can go wrong down the road with the ball joint not seated properly (if I were to use an impact)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not sure, but I have to replace my drivers side one. Everytime I lock the front wheels to the right, it makes a screetching sound, I checked and it was making slight contact with my rotors. I might just go ahead and install hyper flex bushings on all the joints.

nsxmatt

I kinda pushed on the hub and brakes to sorta put the bolt in a bind then tighten up the nut. It's worked so far

JV

You can use a pair of fairly large slipjoint pliers, such as these:

to squeeze the lca and balljoint together as you are tightening the castle nut...

ABTDer

airgun gets my vote

B16b2b

put a small jack near that area ( on the LCA) to put pressure on the joint, jack it up some, then give it a try. done it many times!!!!