Ball Joints

[clioRT3]

Hi all
heard some knockin comeing from my nearside wheel so had a look and found that the lower ball joint needs replacing:S .
Wondering if anyone has done it them self, and if so how easy is it.
Oh and i already got a new joint for £10.

any help woul be appreciated :approve:

 

[edde]

Dead easy to chnage rust its the only issue.

Undo the two bolts holding the ball joint to the arm, its a 17mm spanner on top and 16mm nut on the bottom from memory.
Then undo the bolt which holds the ball joint into the hub it can be a pain to get out but douce it in penetrating oil however rusty it is.
Remove the bolt, pull the ball joint out replace with a new one then you'll have to fiddle aroung moving bits so you can tigthen the two lower bolts up.
Best use the new bolts which should be supplied with the ball joint and even better use locking compound as well and tigthen them to the correct torque.

Shouldn't take more than half and hour ro do took me about 3hours on a Williams once due to rust though as I have to take the whole hub off.

 

[donsrno1]

It certainly can be a pain to change them. I've had to do one before and I spent a good hour or two trying to get the bolts off as I didn't have a hacksaw to cut the fcukers off. In the end I got a mate to come round and I just cut them off as I wasn't getting anywhere with a breaker bar. I would certainly recommend giving them a good covering of WD40 or something.

 

[clioRT3]

Thanks for your reply guys.
Thats a great help
ill let you know how it goes!!

 

[16v_jon]

cover it on wd the night before, then buy a ball joint seperator for a about £6 only a cheap one, it will make the job much easier.

 

[nicktrueman]

Hi,

Just to offer some help with this. When you replace the ball-joint you WILL need to replace the nuts that you take off. This is simply because they will either be nylocks or serrated hex lock nuts, neither of which should ever be reused as they would pose a serious safety risk.

Also if you replace the nuts with a non locking nut it will fail the next MOT.