Ball joint replacement

[outlawtorn]

Well my upper and lower ball joints have about an inch of play in them so i think its time to replace them lol. Ive never done this before and was wondering if a guy could do it in his driveway in a afternoon or what? Do i need any special tools etc.? If someone has a good writeup on this point me towards it. Any help would be apprieciated /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[mechted]

i just did this... learning along the way, it took me most of a weekend (ran into u-joint problems so it actually took longer.. but whatever) I would say if you know how to tear down the knuckles already, and you dont run into other problems, it should only take you a day

it does require a ball joint press (rented at autozone)
and the hub socket ($19 to buy, i think you can rent them too)
also there is a special adjusting sleve for the upper ball joint.. it requires a spanner wrench and has to be torqued to about 100 ft lbs
and i found that a ball joint seperating tool helped out.
other than than, just the basic tools... except maybe a 1 5/16" socket for the upper ball joint nut

 

[scubahard]

It took me an entire weekend as well. Removing the spindle was a little tricky. The two locking nuts with the small pin on the spindle were tough. I didn't expect that. Give yourself a couple of days for the first time around. Check your U-joints, bearings, and brakes. I just replace everything since I had it all apart. Each caliper was $12. Heck, I only wanted to do it all once.

 

[ntaj*ep]

Your going to need a balljoint press, other than that your golden.

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

Removing the spindle is a piece of cake. Either put a 4x4 block on it and beat it with a hammer, or go to autozone and get a spindle puller (free to rent).

 

[divorced]

[ QUOTE ]
also there is a special adjusting sleve for the upper ball joint.. it requires a spanner wrench and has to be torqued to about 100 ft lbs

[/ QUOTE ]

50 ft. lbs.

 

[mechted]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
also there is a special adjusting sleve for the upper ball joint.. it requires a spanner wrench and has to be torqued to about 100 ft lbs

[/ QUOTE ]
50 ft. lbs.

[/ QUOTE ]

whoops.. got the two torques switched (serves me right for going off memory!) thanks for catching that

 

[divorced]

It happens to the best of us /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. I just posted the link because it has all of the specs in it.