I've finally given up... spent the whole damn day trying to drop the tranny to install a new clutch/flywheel, but it sucks.

Tomorrow I give one more whack at it, but otherwise, it is going back together and being installed by a shop.

The big problem is the ball joint on the lower control arm. I got a ball joint separator, but it hasn't been much help. It doesn't quite seem to get all the way through, and I can't pry it very much. Can't really get it in on the other side either because the jack stand is in th way.

Anyway... clutches suck, air tools suck, and I should definitely not be working on cars.

 

You know a good way to get the lower control arm off? I have basically everything except that... once I do that, it just a matter of pulling out the driveshaft and the bottom engine mounts.

My plan right now is to hose it down with liquid wrench, let it soak in over night, and if it doesn't budge, then I'll cut my loses, put it back together, and take it to a shop in a couple of weeks (need to pay insurance first).

Any help or tips would be much appreciated!

 

Is there a particular reason why a ball joint would be hard to separate? I ask because I plan on replacing my axles and wheel bearings soon. How come a shop can pop it off without any trouble? Don't tell me it's because they have the air tool to do it or something...

 

Take the biggest hammer you can find, loosen the castle nut on the LCA and bang the **** out of the LCA around the ball joint. Make sure the other end of the LCA is still connected to the subframe. You don't need a ball joint separator to get the job done.

HTH

 

Hmm... I'll keep the hammer (aka The Persuader) in mind, although I don't like the idea of hammering it for fear or bending or cracking something.

How much does a 3 finger puller cost? My uncle has a compressor...

 

HELL yea, that's the way to do it. Don't hit the nut, just the lower arm. WHACK the F-n crap out of it. It'll drop.

Late.

 

Thanks for all your help. Going to give a good go at it in the morning. Hopefully the liquid wrench will penetrate it enough so it comes off easy. Can only hope.

Kinda wierd how things go. I get nothing but encouragement to continue on from you guys and my friends, but my parents are getting all pissed off because they don't want my car stuck in the garage and have little faith in me getting this done.

Took a few pictures of stuff today. Two at the end of the set are of the LCA and all the gease **** around it. Ohh, and the ball joint separator does fit the stud pretty good... not small at all. Pictures: http://www.qgyen.net/photos/index.bml?entryid=475

 

Hehe, we encourage because we have all been there.

Nothing like having your mom on your *** to finish the valve job or shock install because because it's 12 midnight and she wants to close the garage cause she doesn't trust the neighborhood being safe.

Good luck tomorrow... now you got me all worried. My car is older than yours and in CA as well (no salt). But mine has been popped recently so I hope that'll make it easier.

6 puck eh? Damn.... have fun with that.

 

man dont even bother with LCA pry off the Upper ball joint way easier. It will pop off EASY!

 

Nice website SeaDawg

 

Last time my friend purchased one it cost about $50. This was probably 4 or 5 years ago.

 

Sledgehammer

 

I first put the castlenut backwards back on the bolt so I wouldn't damage the tip of it. put it on just enough to add strength. I then took my pullers with only two Jaws and started to tighten on the bolt. I made sure the pullers still had good grip on the control arm and then I put a C clamp on the pullers to keep the gripped over the control arm. Then start ratcheting the pullers slowly. I spent many many hours trying to get the ball joint out and this is the trick I finally had to do. It's not impossible just something you need to work at, once I got one off the other one went real easy even though I initially failed on both multiple times. Hope this helps. While your under your car check all your boots. axles, tie rods, etc. I changed my axles with my tranny, now 6 months later my tie rod and ball joint boots are cracked. Looks like I'll be doing it all over again. Ihave to put in a LSD and get my suspension worked on. All new prothane and energy suspension inserts, ball joints, and bushings. The next hardest thing after the ball joints is stabbing the tranny back in. I replaced my tranny side motor mounts last time, I am going to replace the rear and engine side mts this time, plus inserts in the front and rear mounts, I've heard putting inserts in all four mounts makes the car too shakey.


[Modified by 92gsrVortec, 2:17 PM 8/13/2001]

 

a pickle fork and a hammer

a couple hits is all mine took

 

I did the same as yaksplat did and worked just fine. It should only take a few hits...

 

I just dropped my tranny two days ago.
Took 2 hours.

For the ball joints..I undid the nuts and took a big hammer and pounded the knuckle/lower control arm. It broke free and fell out by itself...took all but a few minutes.

Have you done the shift linkage pin yet? That's fun!

 

If your just dropping the tranny, I wouldn't undo the shift linkage pin till the tranny is out of the car. You can just unbolt the linkage at the shifter end to get the tranny out.

This way, you have plenty of room to swing a BFH to get the pin out.

Also, cat bolts work great on getting the pin out!

 

for the pin, instead of using an 8mm punch, since there was no room to swing a hammer underneath my car, i used an 8mm cap screw. It worked like a charm and it was a hell of a lot cheaper than a punch was. I did grind a bevel into the tip of the cap screw so it would fit into the spring pin easier..

 

Heh...know what I used?

An old intake valve! Perfect size!

 

A couple of people have already mentioned the hammer method, that is exactly what an Acura dealer mechanic showed me.

The ball joint portion that fits into the control arm is a tapered fit, which seems to seat itself very tight, someone even suggested the fit is so well that it's like a vaccuum sucktion!!

Banging the control arm casting deforms the casting ever so slightly before it springs back into its' original shape and is this momentary/temporary change in the tapered seat that allow the ball joint to magically pop out.

It works like a charm, I've tried it since myself and it also worked great.

 

yah I did this too, but I used a two finger ball joint pusher/separator.
slip it on, and wrench it to push the ball joint thru the arm, POP it goes.
much easier than the prybar / fork separator method because you are using a lot more torque that is directly transferred to the motion you desire.

good luck!
and very nice setup too!
what flywheel is that? SICK!

 

Tonight I am finally going to give another whack at it. Getting a bigger hammer after work, going to try that out, and if it doesn't work, I'll get a puller and use that. It seems like my big problem was that I was only working one side, since I had a jack stand on the other side that was kinda blocking the way.

Thanks. Its a Clutch Masters flywheel. Can't wait to get the **** in on Sat. Just working on the ball joint tonight.

 

I have one too

Its also going in on Saturday along with a GSR tranny!


[Modified by HX_Guy, 2:07 PM 8/16/2001]

 

have you looked here:

http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/b...ch/clutch.html

HTH

 

Apexi N1, the best exhaust i bought. My 1/4 mile droped from a 15.0 w/ just intake, to a 14.6 when i put on the exhaust. I would say get Apexi N1.


[Modified by valentinecr, 12:02 AM 8/17/2001]