I am reassembling the front spindle on my 2001 accord 4cylinder. Everything is bolted up, torqued and cotter pinned except that !@#$% lower ball joint.

The ball joint just spins and spins. I have tried jacking it up from the lower arm, lifting the car, and going at it with an air powered impact gun. It just spins.

I have tried ratchet strapping the spindle to put downward pressure while jacking it up at the same time and attacking it with the air gun, no luck.

I have scored the nut, made sure it's not chunked, no luck.

I back it off and go again over and over, no luck.

What next? I really don't wan to take it all apart and replace the ball joint.

 

You're going to need to just swap it out. You can rent a ball joint press kit at most parts stores. Just pay a deposit and you get it back when you return the kit.

 

Solved! I used a die and an airgun to chase the threads, and it worked. I was able to tighten and torque the castle nut with an airgun afterwards.

 

 

You really dont want to use an airgun on tightening it. A standard torque wrench is more than enough. All the air gun does is make things faster and more difficult to remove later in life.

 

I used the airgun to get it most of the way up... then torqued it to spec and added a cotter pin. Have been driving for a few days and all seems well.