jrg77

The scarry part was jacking the car up and seeing no cotter pin. That was the first sign that something was wrong. Now as I try to unloosen it, the shaft turns right around with it. How do I get this %^&&$*@ off so I can finish the job?

And exactly how do you torque it when the torque wrench won't fit in there?


Thanks,
Jason

Toxinz

to take the castel nut off you will have to push up on the ball joint then go back and fourth to take it off. rather easy. I normally just take a block of wood and jack the controll arm up. then take it off. As for the spec i just use a wrench till its rather tight or around what that specific spec would feel like. then line up the cotter pin hole. make sure you dont loosen it to line it up just tighten it a little more and slip the pin threw,

Chickenman35

Was the nut tight when you took it off? If not then the taper fit in the spindle may be enlongated or " ovalised". The spindle is junk in that case. Inspect the taper in the spindle very carefully.

As far as torqueing, ball joint to spindle Torque is 78 ft lbs. Call it 80. Easy enough to get a torque wrench in there from the back. On left hand whhel crank the steering over full right and go at it. Right hand side is a bit more difficult. Crank full left, then remove keys to engage steering lock.

If cotter hole does not line up...you can tighten nut a bit more untill they do....but NEVER loosen the nut to line up.

I torque to 80 ft lbs then use a big bloody box wrench ( and muscles ) to line up the last bit if necessary..

ede

if you weren't replacing the ball joint you need to. cut the nut off and don'y worry about the stud since it's part of the ball joint you'd be replacing.

jrg77

I've been hacking at it with a hack saw, but I think I'm gonna need a power cutter of some sort so I can get this done.

Jason G.

jrg77

Okay I've continued hacking at it until if I try anymore I'll start cutting into the steering knuckle. How do I get it off? I've tried with a chisel and it just turns around. And there isn't a lot of room to swing the hammer without hitting sheetmetal.

Jason,

ede

i'd use a torch, but then again i have a torch. cut off disk, grinder, portaband, sawzall, nut cracker

Orinackra

I had that happen, and couldn't cut it. I had a tie rod/ball joint pickle fork, so i jammed it on there to stop it from spinning, put a chisel in one of the indents of the castle nut, and hammered away till it split in half. Oh yeah, dont forget to leave your jack under the control arm.

jrg77

I ended up buying an air chisel and after figuring out how to work it the two pieces of the nut popped off. I thought this was the hard part... WRONG!!!

The C-clamp for the ball joint remover is too short, or the ball joint shaft is too tall. I think tommorow I will take a drill to the cotter pin hole and drill it with increasing bit sizes until the top comes off.

I didn't realize how creative I was gonna have to get to do this job.

And the other side came off easy once I understood what i was doing.

Jason

jrg77

How much of a problem is it if the grease fitting won't unscrew from the bottom? Is just spins and spins, and this is while I'm using a ratchet.

Jason

MrDude_1

step one. grab fitting with large vice grips

step two. pull/pivoit the grips to yank/pry it out.



you just need to use a lil brute force.. lol.

pvt num 11

"If brute force doesn't fix your problem then you aren't using enough."

jrg77

I had to buy a 4lb. hammer and chisel. It took me some time to figure out how to get in good licks, but then it came right out.

I noticed while I was doing this that there is a bolt that goes through the end of the sway bar. It has bushings on it and one is crumbling into red crumbs. What part is it and what is a good replacement for it?

Thanks,
Jason

ede

sway bar bushings, ask for a sway bar bushing kit.