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ball joints, eventual success (very long...) Posted by kenS [Email]  (#606) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from kenS) on Thu, 7 Jul 2005 10:40:33
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’87 900T, 175K, car is rust-free (California, no-salt State). A bit new to DIY, especially suspension things, but was going to do seriously decayed front sway bar bushings, and thought, while I’m in there, may as well do the ball joints (they’ve only been in there 17 yrs or so, and were in pretty bad shape). I read ALL of the recommendations & suggestions on this board, plus TwinSaabs, plus Townsend. Here’s how it went:
(a) Sway bar bushings: replaced w/ poly--- messy & dirty, but otherwise a piece of cake.
(b) Plan 1 (simple!)--- try and do bj’s without removing steering knuckle, axle, or caliper. Removed lower shock, a bit difficult to pry off. Managed to do top bj driver’s side, was careful not to stretch or tear boots. Used cheapo bj separator tool on this and on tie rod end, but there isn’t enough room to use on the lower bj. Tried pickle fork and hammer, but then stopped when the old bj rubber seal began to tear. Reassembled everything, had a VERY hard time getting the lower shock back on--- finally successful, but took a lot of time & energy. 1 bj down, 3 to go. Decided to go to plan 2.
(c) Plan 2 (remove axle nut, caliper, rotor, bj bolts, then just pull steering knuckle off and work on bench). Driver’s side: axle nut came off with 24-inch breaker bar, surprisingle easy. Pass side axle nut would NOT budge. Tried soaking w/ PB Blaster, then using 1/2-inch impact wrench (supposedly 300 ft lbs). Would not budge. Went to a 36-inch breaker--- would not budge, even with bar bending. On Driver’s side, removed bj bolts, pulled knuckle forward, tapped axle end hard w/ soft hammer, but it would NOT budge out of knuckle. So, not much point in removing axle nut after all! Went to Plan 3.
(d) Plan 3 (leave axle nut or stuck axle on knuckle, pull axle assy out of inner driver, work on bench). On both sides, removed caliper + pads, suspended w/ tie wraps from spring, also secured axle with tie wrap to upper A-arm. Did not remove disk from hub. On Driver’s side, released inner boot clamp, then tried to gently pull out knuckle and axle. Inner boot would not budge!--- the rubber was pretty stiff, and it looked like it was going to tear rather than pull off. Same story on pass side. Went to Plan 4.
(e) Plan 4: (leave axle in knuckle and inner driver, remove bj bolts, support weight of thing with floor jack, try and be careful not to pull axle out or otherwise damage inner boot. Bolts came out pretty easily, separator tool worked ok on upper bj. Tried Townsend recommendation for lower bj--- strike knuckle spindle w/ hammer. Nothing. Reread postings on subject, they all said “strike hard”. Gave it a big swing, bang, and the bj popped right out! Same on Pass side! Put in new bj’s, was very careful about inner boot and cv joint, reassembled everything.
Test ride was ok, suspension much improved! Total time: 3 evenings, about 3 hrs each, totally exhausted afterwards. Conclusions--- you don’t have to remove the axle nut or axle, even if you want to! Guess I’ll stick to my day job and leave Professional Wrenching to others.
posted by 196.3.4...
, Thu, 7 Jul 2005 10:40:33 <-- Viewing This Message
, Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:42:41, Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:34:42
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