hello forum members, i was going to try and change my lower ball joints and the castle nut on my lower ball joint on the left side of the front suspension just spins endlessly on the stud without moving in any direction when i try and loosen it, it also doesn't move if i try and tighten it back in place. obviously i had to remove the cotter pin before loosening. i assume the threads on either the stud or the nut have been stripped?

Where do i go from here iv'e never ground or cut through a nut before, where could i get a new castle nut and will the stud still be good to keep a ball joint on. Any help is appreciated

 

It's probably not spinning because the threads are stripped. It's more likely that the entire stud is spinning within the ball joint. Either use an impact drive to remove the nut or load the ball joint up with the weight of the vehicle or compression from a jack to put pressure on the ball joint so it resist spinning while removing the nut.

 

If you're saying it spins and the ball joint itself is spinning with it you can try prying the knuckle away from the lower arm to try to put some tension on the castle nut.

 

No its definitely just the nut that is spinning, I can spin it with my fingers in both directions

 

ive never head of the nut spinning freely. but i can imagine someone just over tightening and stripping the threads, i guess.

its very common that the balljoint/stud gets loose inside the cup and spins with the nut, so you cant remove the nut or tighten it. if the spin is very loose, then you really need to replace the balljoint. BUT you should never expect to reuse the castle nut, unless you chase the threads with a tap. the castle nut will almost always strip slightly and is the reason it does not spin freely onto the stud.

if indeed the nut is stripped, then theres no option than to cut it off and replace the whole balljoint.

wondering if the threads are ok to reuse is a totally useless thought.

you buy the parts at a dealer. ....

 

After looking at my new ball joints I realized why some of my questions didn't make sense, should've looked at the new ones and done some more learning in general before i started this job but I finally got it done thanks for your help