Whats the <U>best</U> way to remove/put the nut from the balljoint on (if that made sense?)... everytime i try to either put it on (pass side) or take it off (driver side) the **** keeps spinning with the nut....i tried and impact wrench but just spins faster....any advise??

P.S: please correct me cuz i know i probably didnt name it right

Also its the Balljoint's from the Upper/Lower Control arm to the Knuckle, and Steering Colom(?)

 

Invest in some tiny vise grips and lock them under the boot but above the nut. You will most likely have to break the boot. Make sure you also get that wire locker off the bolt. - Darrell

 

new castle nuts make a world of difference.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DOHCZCCRXSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Invest in some tiny vise grips and lock them under the boot but above the nut. You will most likely have to break the boot. Make sure you also get that wire locker off the bolt. - Darrell</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah i bought two of them to make sure....the boot have no meaning other then it'll sweak like hell??

 

theres a special tool that you can rent from your local checker, i think autozone too

 

First, make sure both the ball joint taper surface AND the internal surface into which the taper fits are both clean. This will help the two surfaces to 'grab' each other in order to keep the ballstud from just spinning. Also, make sure the threads on the ballstud and nut are clean. As the other guy said, a new nut helps in situations like this. This will help reduce the torque required to spin the nut down, decreasing the chance the ballstud will spin. Then jam the ballstud into the hole as hard as you can (for the tightest fit).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StorminMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First, make sure both the ball joint taper surface AND the internal surface into which the taper fits are both clean. This will help the two surfaces to 'grab' each other in order to keep the ballstud from just spinning. Also, make sure the threads on the ballstud and nut are clean. As the other guy said, a new nut helps in situations like this. This will help reduce the torque required to spin the nut down, decreasing the chance the ballstud will spin. Then jam the ballstud into the hole as hard as you can (for the tightest fit).</TD></TR></TABLE>

whats the balljoint taper?? sorry im new to this also im tryin the vise grip and it just keep on spinning still when i try to screw the nut on....should i take out the boot (the rubber thing) inorder to get more lev???

 

same thing happened to me but i ended up grinding castle nut off and pressing new ball joint in (bad anyways)

 

man this is all i need to have this car running...been over 2 years....SOO should i rip out the boot clamp the **** out of the bolt and just tighten as much as i could?? would the nut pop off anytime soon or is it good enough to get it going for a while?

 

should i just buy new balljoints??

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

 

just get a big *** pry bar (sorry for the ugly drawing), but it between the lower control arm and the hub, push down real hard, and shoot with your impact wrench. if you do it right, comes off every time. the pry bar stops the ball joint from spinning in the hub.

the fun part is getting it out of the control arm... this you need pry bar and hammer : P


Modified by gold EF at 11:52 AM 3/3/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DOHCZCCRXSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Invest in some tiny vise grips and lock them under the boot but above the nut. You will most likely have to break the boot. Make sure you also get that wire locker off the bolt. - Darrell</TD></TR></TABLE>

he means cotter pin. did you remove it?

 

If the balljoint is spinning while your taking the nut off, you have a problem. The balljoint should be stuck solid into the LCA or knuckle. Its gonna be really hard to keep that ****** still while you get the nut off. If the end of the balljoint stud is sticking out of the nut enough, just use a dremel to cut a notch into the end of the stud (like a screw head). Then use a flat head screwdriver to hold the stud still while using a box end wrench to remove the nut.

When putting the nut back on the Lower Ball Joint, support the LCA with a jack, and have a friend push downward on the brake disk with all their weight while you torque the castle nut. For the Upper Ball Joint, try having your firend get under the car (with the LCA still supported by a jack) and pull downward on the UCA with as much weight as they can while you torque the castle nut. If your using a NEW castle nut, it should go on super easy (clean the balljoint threads first), and tighten up without a problem. If your using an old nut, make sure the balljoint threads are clean, and the nut threads are NOT damaged at all.

Quick Lesson about Ball Joints: The stud is actually tapered on the portion that sits inside the LCA or knuckle. By putting a lot of weight on this taper it will prevent the balljoints from just slipping as you torque down the nut. The second problem you will encounter is separating the stud from the LCA or knuckle. The taper becomes completely stuck over time & will require special techniques to separate. Pickle forks work great here. Just place between the balljoint boot & the LCA & strike w/ a hammer. The only problem is they usually ruin the balljoint boot. The boot protects the balljoint from the elements, and contains a resivoire of lube. If it's broken, the lube gets washed away, and dirt will wear out the balljoint prematurely. Replacing the boot is simple and cheap, and new boots are always good piece of mind.

There are all kinds of tools for separating balljoints, but if their not use properly they will damage the balljoint stud & you will have to replace the whole balljoint. Most upper balljoints can only be replaced with the whole UCA, and you have to take out your axles to remove the Lower balljoints. Tie rod balljoints are easy to replace, but you will definently need an alignment after you do that. I suggest using a pickle fork.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the balljoint is spinning while your taking the nut off, you have a problem. The balljoint should be stuck solid into the LCA or knuckle. Its gonna be really hard to keep that ****** still while you get the nut off. If the end of the balljoint stud is sticking out of the nut enough, just use a dremel to cut a notch into the end of the stud (like a screw head). Then use a flat head screwdriver to hold the stud still while using a box end wrench to remove the nut.

When putting the nut back on the Lower Ball Joint, support the LCA with a jack, and have a friend push downward on the brake disk with all their weight while you torque the castle nut. For the Upper Ball Joint, try having your firend get under the car (with the LCA still supported by a jack) and pull downward on the UCA with as much weight as they can while you torque the castle nut. If your using a NEW castle nut, it should go on super easy (clean the balljoint threads first), and tighten up without a problem. If your using an old nut, make sure the balljoint threads are clean, and the nut threads are NOT damaged at all.

Quick Lesson about Ball Joints: The stud is actually tapered on the portion that sits inside the LCA or knuckle. By putting a lot of weight on this taper it will prevent the balljoints from just slipping as you torque down the nut. The second problem you will encounter is separating the stud from the LCA or knuckle. The taper becomes completely stuck over time & will require special techniques to separate. Pickle forks work great here. Just place between the balljoint boot & the LCA & strike w/ a hammer. The only problem is they usually ruin the balljoint boot. The boot protects the balljoint from the elements, and contains a resivoire of lube. If it's broken, the lube gets washed away, and dirt will wear out the balljoint prematurely. Replacing the boot is simple and cheap, and new boots are always good piece of mind.

There are all kinds of tools for separating balljoints, but if their not use properly they will damage the balljoint stud & you will have to replace the whole balljoint. Most upper balljoints can only be replaced with the whole UCA, and you have to take out your axles to remove the Lower balljoints. Tie rod balljoints are easy to replace, but you will definently need an alignment after you do that. I suggest using a pickle fork.</TD></TR></TABLE>

but sometimes... it still spins, it doesnt mean that its necessarily broken, ball joints are meant to spin. it just means that the taper seperated from the hole, but the nut is stuck on the thread and there is no tool for it. u just have to creat friction in the ball joint, and shoot it with an impact. the dremel trick works, if you plan on getting new balljoints. just pry HARD and shoot, works everytime

 

I tried that and **** still spins....well heres my weapon of choice and target....i tried jamming the big *** pipe lookin wrench in between the boot and knuckle but still spins....anywho here it goes

the bitch


tools

 

ooooh the upper?

easy, get a block of wood, put it above the uper a arm, then jack the hub up, all the pressure of the car will be on the joint, then shoot it wiht your gun

 

ooo iight...i think my dad just returned the impact wrench lol still be able to do it with just a socket wrench?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">new castle nuts make a world of difference.</TD></TR></TABLE>

seriously... buy a new nut first. that or a thread chaser and/or die.

i know the problem youre having. as long as you didnt damage the threads (which may very well be easily done) a new nut will make it very easy.

youre battling friction, so decreasing it is the better option here.

 

how would a new castle nut do anything?? besides i still need to remove the driver side knuckle...i mean i WILL take your advise but just the info is always great

 

Just use a big pry bar and apply some force on the ball joint, then thread the nut one.

 

its likely the threads on the nut are not perfect anymore and are what is causing the friction. obviously the problem is theres more friction on the nut than the surface of the taper. if everything were perfect, there would be almost NO friction. so replace the nut and it should have a perfect thread again.

im not sure if you know, but fasteners work by stretching the bolt and nut. if theyre not overtorqued, then they should relax back to the same dimensions. but sometimes they dont, or are only made for one stretch (kinda like what you hear about head bolts). so its not surprising that the castle nut, especially the way its designed with half the threads cut several times, is out of perfect dimension after being used once, plus all the dirt and crap thats its surrounded by.

so thats why you replace the nut. i think its even called out on in helms as a replacement item whenever you service. (yeah i know, we dont always replace it, but we should, and shouldnt be surprised if they dont work a second time if theyre called out by the factory as replacement service items.)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its likely the threads on the nut are not perfect anymore and are what is causing the friction. obviously the problem is theres more friction on the nut than the surface of the taper. if everything were perfect, there would be almost NO friction. so replace the nut and it should have a perfect thread again.

im not sure if you know, but fasteners work by stretching the bolt and nut. if theyre not overtorqued, then they should relax back to the same dimensions. but sometimes they dont, or are only made for one stretch (kinda like what you hear about head bolts). so its not surprising that the castle nut, especially the way its designed with half the threads cut several times, is out of perfect dimension after being used once, plus all the dirt and crap thats its surrounded by.

so thats why you replace the nut. i think its even called out on in helms as a replacement item whenever you service. (yeah i know, we dont always replace it, but we should, and shouldnt be surprised if they dont work a second time if theyre called out by the factory as replacement service items.)</TD></TR></TABLE>

oo iight thanks

 

honestly man, if you didnt mess up the threads on the balljoint, when you get a new castle nut, youll be amazed at how easily it threads all the way in, as it should be.