Guest Pegasus76 Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 In order to remove the lower ball joints...Do I have to remove in excess equipment? Or is it a pretty straight through job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 to take out the balljoint you will need to remove the 4 bolts holding it to the control arm (2x12mm, 2 of them also hold in the trailing arm - 14mm), and disconnect the two big bolts holding the strut to the steering knuckle. There will be a 19mm (3/4") castle nut with a cotter pin holding the steering knuckle to the balljoint. you can use a pickle fork to separate the two if you have no concern for the balljoint and planning to throw it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Maybe I should know this somehow, but once you get a new strut-bottom balljoint installed in the control arm, how in the world are you supposed to torque the steering arm down with the 19mm nut on the balljoint shaft??? I got mcquay-norris balljoints and they came with a nylock nut instead of a castle nut. I get that thing down to the nylon and the whole shaft part spins around with the nut. What am I supposed to do here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Maybe I should know this somehow, but once you get a new strut-bottom balljoint installed in the control arm, how in the world are you supposed to torque the steering arm down with the 19mm nut on the balljoint shaft??? Impact Wrench! Most of the time it will stop turning once it starts to press into the tappered part of the shaft. Just get it snugged up and then you can torque it down and install the cotter pin! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Man, these balljoints are kicking my ass I will try the impact wrench shortly, but first can someone confirm torque specs for the two short bolts that hold the balljoint to the control arm? My Nissan shop manual says 44-51 ftlbs, however I have broken both a new bolt that came with the ball joint and one of the originals right about at 40 ftlbs. My chiltons manual says 45 ftlbs. Maybe the new bolts are cheap pieces of crap and the old ones were just fatigued??? Also the damn rubber boot is getting pinched kind of unevenly between the balljoint 'frame' and the bottom side of the control arm. Is it supposed to be like this? I'm worried about unnecessary play because of it, and maybe it is making the bolt angle just enough to snap? I dunno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Scratch 2 more new bolts, both broke between 40 and 45 ftlbs. The bolts that came with the balljoints are marked '10.9', which is the strongest bolt typically available from what I've read. All I could find available tonight were some stainless bolts marked 'A-2', which have a tensile strength of about 550MPa, vs about 900MPa of the '10.9' bolts that came with the balljoints. I have checked my torque wrench against another torque wrench and they are both in agreeance with each other. I pulled the rubber boot off and tried again so I could be sure that the balljoint frame was sitting flush with the bottom face of the control arm and still snapped a bolt. What the $*@#? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 45 lb/ft for these little bolts sounds a little high. I'm guessing these are no bigger than 8mm. I'd stay around 30 lb/ft. Your specs are correct for the grade of bolt, but I've never had one loosen up with the lighter figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Ok, got some new bolts (which had 13mm heads oddly enough, instead of the normal 12mm) and put them on at 30 ftlbs with red locktite. Everything is assembled and just begging for me to get the wheels put on! Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 81na ZX Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Semi-related ball joint problem here: I had no problems getting the joint installed into the CA, or the steering arm on (Nyloc nuts), but I can't get the darn strut to compress enough! It was kicking my butt, so I've let it sit a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Semi-related ball joint problem here: I had no problems getting the joint installed into the CA, or the steering arm on (Nyloc nuts), but I can't get the darn strut to compress enough! It was kicking my butt, so I've let it sit a few days If I understand your problem correctly then I suggest disconnecting the swaybar, which will allow you to drop the control arm down farther below the strut. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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