like it says; is it hard? easy? special tools involved? my car has a very loose wheel and sometimes after hitting a bump the steering goes crazy so i need them replaced. also will replacing the tie rod ends be benificial also?

 

Wheel bearings are easy enough. But the ball joints need to be pressed out and the new ones pressed in. I'd suggest having a shop do them

 

If you are not familiar with front end suspension I’d suggest having by a shop do the work. You will need a few special tool (spring compressor, press, fork ...etc.)t hat you could probably rent free from your local auto zone or auto store. Also may want to look into replacing all the front rubber bushings with poly.

 

You can rent (tool loan) a ball joint tool that will allow you to remove and install the joints from Autozone. It's pretty easy once you've disconnected the spindle which requires a buttload of torque and a large wrench (15/16?).

You can replace your tie-rods and everything else under there but it can get expensive.

Check your upper strut mounts, pop the plastic cover and look for cracking/splits in the rubber. Move your front end up and down and make sure they're solid.

Check your wheel bearings by grasping your tire at 12 and six and pushing/pulling. There should be very little play.

I'd recommend finding out what's loose/worn before going too crazy-unless you have the money and time.

 

I wrote out a nice explanation and opened another webpage, and my write up got wiped, so forgive the concise angred reply here:

Easy, I did it with no prior front end exp. recently:

Rent the ball joint seperator, like a tie-rod end seperator, pitch fork deal. Make sure you have a big hammer, or plan to spend a fair bit of time beating the crap out of it.

Rent the C-Clamp dealie to press out the old ball joint and in the new one. You need a 15/16" socket/wrench as mentioned and a TON of torque, I had no air tools, so I used a 4 foot snipe.

You'll also need of course, wheel bearing grease, new seal, parts cleaner....

I never removed the brake lines (good, no bleeding...), or the springs (that's just a pain...), or the shock. I recommend removing the shock, it's a PITA in the way.

oh yea, almost forgot:
http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/balljointreplacement.html
follow that to the letter, and ask back if you have any questions.

EDIT: don't bother trying to beat the ball joint out of the control arm, unless maybe you have a hammer that size, I tried that and got nothing but tired...

 

Ok mabye i should ask this: how do i tell wat i need to replace and wat to keep??? i kno there are various test you can do with the wheel? wat are they and a good explanation would help thanks.

 

Low miles on the speedo? Are you the original owner? Any front suspension work since you have had the car? If the answer is no, then replace all suspension parts on the car. You will notice a big differnce once this is completed.

 

wat all does that include and i dont want to spend tons of money, and also would like to do most hte work myself

 

naf gave some good hints up there, wiggle your wheel and check for play. I had to have my car inspected to insure it, so a shop told me to fix the ball joints.... but other then that, suspension components aren't actually that expensive, so replacing a handfull of those things won't cost you too much, and you'll notice a big difference.

oh yea, to check shocks: push down on a corner of your car quickly, watch it bounce back up, if it bounces up and down more then 2 or so times, replace them. Springs, well if you think the car is "squishy/spongy" feeling, replace those. Tie rods, well that sounds like your original problem.

 

I am doing a rebuild now car had 108,000 on the orginal
shocks. I am rebuilding everything a-arms bushings ,shocks, springs , tie rods inner outers, center link , pitman, idler, ball joints. I am also doing the rear end shocks and springs.
The total for all the parts came roughly to about 585. I used kyb shocks wish I could afford the better ones, but I take these over the older ones.
I bought my kit from spohn, some folks say they are over priced but I like to get all my parts from one source if possible . You can get em cheaper from napa. If you are going to do a basic rebuild
I would at least do the tie rods, shocks , struts and ball joints.
It would probably run you about 300 this is a rough guess.
This is my second front end rebuilt last one wasa 82 camaro.
took me about 4 hrs to get all the front components off the car
you can get all the tools from autozone or checkers not sure on napa. It does require a deposit of money for the tools you get this back when you return the tools.
I could of took it in and had my brother do it , but there is something refreshing about doing it yourself, for me its that I have no one to blame if something is done wrong.

Dynodan

 

The big hammer method is by far the easiest and fastest. You just need to remember that what you’re looking for is one swift, hard blow, you’ll NEVER get the thing out with a bunch of wimpy smacks with a small hammer.

I use a 3# drilling hammer. Another thing to consider is that most of the time when you’re doing this you’ll have half a dozen reasons to pull out the control arm completely, this will only add a couple of minutes to the job at that point and makes the job TONS easier. With it out of the car, just set the end of the arm on 2 boards so the arm is supported without contacting the ball joint, whack it and it’s out.

 

Took me hours to change spindles and springs on my 91 Z28, not too bad for a first timer. Then again, I had alot of help from my friend. Didnt mess with any of the bushings because there were still good. Next up is the IROC, new front bushings, struts, springs, pretty much everything. I plan to remove the A-arms completely and take em to a shop to have the balljoints and A-arm bushings pressed in. If I can do it, you can definately do it. hahahaha

 

If you don't want to do the whole job and replace EVERYTHING, take it to a shop to get an estimate and they'll tell you what is worn and needs to be replaced. Shouldn't cost too much, if anything.

If you need to remove the ball joints use the remover/installer tool. It's so much easier. There's a trick to using it for install. If you get that far, let me know.

 

alright well i plan on taking it to a shop and seeing wat all needs to be replaced. im guessing everything. now i need to find a list of parts to get and/or part #s if anyone has them available.

 

Once you find out what you need we'll help you out.

 

i hate doing the spring compressor. its so scary. i got hit in the leg when i was doing mine. the stupid thing broke on me and when you try to put it in its also scary. i dont think i would do that again.

 

I changed springs on mine, the best way to do it is to jack underneath the A-arm then put the spring compressor on and tighten it until it is snug. Very slowly let the A-arm down.

 

a little tool hint for the ball joints: harbor freight carries a cheap c-frame press that is around 30 bucks that is simple to use and actually holds up to the rigorous abuse i put to it changing ball joints on a f-250.

 

I removed my front springs by jacking the a-arm up to compress the spring (while the car is on stands), then chain the spring to the k-member (use strong chain and big bolts with big nuts on each end), then tie a rope to the lowest coil, then lower the a-arm the whole way, and then finally yank on the rope to unseat the spring. Didnt feel like renting anything, used what I had.

 

if you ask the right people this can really work out. The first time I did it, I found someone to do the ball joints and bushings for $25 for both arms, but after I saw how they popped the ball joints out with a hammer in 30seconds I quickly decided that that was just too easy…

Spring compressors almost seem like they were designed to break and bite you. Some friends and I tried one that we borrowed from a dealership that one of them worked at (you’d think that they’d have the best tools) the first time we pulled the front springs on my TA, and after we got the spring compressed and out of the car none of us had the guts to uncompress it. After a few beers and some deep thought one of us came up with the idea of throwing the whole assembly up as high as we could in the air to see what would happen, and as expected, on impact the thing flew apart…

Easy way, you need a length of chain, a bolt, a shop jack and some combination of a bottle jack and pry bars…

Loop the chain through the bottom coils and around the LCA and bolt it together so if something does move it will not go anywhere when you don’t want it to. Leave it loose enough that it will not be pulled tight by the spring as it is decompressed.

Break the castellated nut on the BJ and leave it loose a couple of turns. Whack the part of the spindle that the BJ taper seats in with a heavy hammer till it unseats (I’ve also made a tool with a couple of big hexes and a threaded section that fits in there between the top of the BJ stud and the strut and will push it apart). Loosen the LCA bolts/nuts. Put the shop jack under the spring pocket and lift a little to unload the LCA hardware and remove it. Lower the jack, remove the chain and remove the spring, remove the BJ nut and you’re done.

Reassembly is basically the reverse but you can tighten the BJ nut at the beginning, and when you jack the LCA you’ll probably need to use some prybars or a small bottle jack to line up the bolt holes just right. When you get good at it, you’ll find that you can jack one of the pivots straight in, put the bolt through, and then change how things line up to get the other bolt through by changing the jack height. Do it once or twice and assuming that you don’t run into any hitches you should be able to do the R&R in about an hour.

 

How about plan B.....

Use coilsprings that are high enough rate and short enough that you don't even need a spring compressor to get them in or out.

I simply put mine in, rotate the A-arm up, then set the floorjack under the a-arm and jack it into position to attach the balljoint- life is easy.

Balljoints- press them in and out with a press or a tool designed for that purpose. The hammer method can elogate the hole and cause fitment issues or even failure.

Another tip, while the A-arms are out, replace the bushings also. I have posted a picture showing how to weld the stock arms BEFORE you remove the old bushings and press in the new ones. This will reinforce the arms as well as keep the mounting ears in perfect alignment to prevent bending when the new bushings are pressed in.

 

Um, yea, that’s where we all end up, but the people asking this question at least need to get the stock springs out first.



A monkey with any tool can screw up parts. I’ve seen people use the correct tool and get the thing in the hole cocked sideways, guess what, elongating the hole. Make sure that It’s braced so that you hit is square with the hammer and you won’t damage anything

 

What does a set of wheel bearings for the front go for (both sides)? My left front wheel is a bit loose and i dont want the problem to escalate. Also only the one is loose but is replacing both a better idea than doing just the one side in order to keep things consistent? Thanks in advance.

 

Crossfire, your a hack, point blank

Is that the same hammer you use when you did a selfalignment in your own garage? Or do you have an assortment of hammers for various jobs>HHAHAHAHAHA (I feel 12 years old all of a sudden, but thats funny right there.)

 

I guess we know who isn't capable enough to hit his balljoint hard enough to get it out.

 

First, using a hammer to loosen BJ and tie rod end tapers removes them without damaging boots and other BS.

Second, I mentioned that I have a tool that works actually pushes the joint apart, but I actually only use it when I need to take them apart off the car. I almost never use my pickle forks or pullers for these, and yes, I own them, but they do too much damage to the parts and they only get pulled out if I run across something that refuses to go any other way and I’ve resigned myself to replacing it anyway

Lastly… 12… you’re giving yourself WAY too much credit

 

You know, the more I think about it and judging from some of the pics and other BS you’ve posted, coming from you I believe that that is actually a complement…

Thank you.

 

Hey bac67, any update for us yet? Don't go too long with a sloppy front end...

 

As for your question above, you can check your wheel bearings when you remove them, look for wear on the "round spinny parts", I'm sure Cross-fire will be able to give a better explanation... but make sure to tighten them up correctly as well after (this info is all in your haynes manual, very well pictured too, if you don't have one..... buy one, otherwise someone can probably scan it and tack it up)

BUT: the beauty is new wheel bearings, seals, etc, are cheap!
In canada here, $7 for the outer bearing, $11 for the inner, and $2 for the seal. = $40 total? throw in grease = $4. And it's a good investment.



ahem, me. Course I only had a regular size claw hammer, and i'm a whopping 150lbs soaking wet, so not necessarily a force to be reckoned with.... But yea, you can hammer them out, but getting the new ones in? I think that'd be tricky... for me renting the tool was easiest, getting them out was easy, and pressing them back in was easy, and I didn't have to bother with removing springs like if I wanted to remove the A-arms completely. (All previous info leads me to believe removing coil springs are about the scariest thing to do on a car... )

Hows it going anyway? No point in us beating this subject to death with opinions if you've already gotten a shop to do it for you...

 

should be all even and shiny, not lines or marks.



Follow FSM for exact torque spec. nutshell… tighten nut while turning the wheel forward, not tight but snug with a wrench (I think the spec is something like 12lb/ft) to seat the bearing. Once you’re sure that it’s seated right, stop turning the wheel, back off the nut, tighen it again by hand (finger tight), install cotter pin.

Done. Should have little/no play in it and not much drag if it’s right.

6’4”, 300# and spent way too much time in the gym. I can “disassemble” almost anything with a 3# sledge.

Carefully driving back in with a hammer works well. My only issue is that I’ve seen people have way more problems with the proper tool (the c-clamp thing with replaceable seats) then using a hammer. If you have access to one and are good at being careful, the best way is probably using a press.

 

The trick is to use the hammer with the c clamp press tool. You strike the center of the C while supporting the screw with a wrench. Pops it right in. So everyone here is correct-to a degree.