Control arm and ball joint assembly

[logandsawman]

I thought it was just my sway bar but it looks like the ball joint assembly is compromised. How hard is it to make this repair?

New sway bar pictured, I had to use a grinder to get the old one off, impossible to turn nuts!




Found this, must be where the noise is coming from since the noise did not change with the sway bar:



Should I take it in for the repair or is this a doable fix?

THANKS for any experience with this,

Dave

 

[Jski]

I thought it was just my sway bar but it looks like the ball joint assembly is compromised. How hard is it to make this repair?

New sway bar pictured, I had to use a grinder to get the old one off, impossible to turn nuts!

View attachment 16046


Found this, must be where the noise is coming from since the noise did not change with the sway bar:

View attachment 16047

Should I take it in for the repair or is this a doable fix?

THANKS for any experience with this,

Dave

Depends on your level of experience; if you can do brakes I’d say go for it. It’s very straightforward and shouldn’t take more than an hour. Just replace the entire control arm

 

[logandsawman]

Depends on your level of experience; if you can do brakes I’d say go for it. It’s very straightforward and shouldn’t take more than an hour. Just replace the entire control arm

Thanks, Jski, for your opinion!

I found a good youtube video, I think if I can do the sway bar the control arm should be a snap. It took him 1 1/2 hours prolly take me 2 hours cause I try to move slow, my 65 year old body not like it used to be.

As far as brakes go, this car has over 173,000 miles, put on by wife and me exclusively. Original brakes still have lots of life. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Dave

 

[Jski]

Thanks, Jski, for your opinion!

I found a good youtube video, I think if I can do the sway bar the control arm should be a snap. It took him 1 1/2 hours prolly take me 2 hours cause I try to move slow, my 65 year old body not like it used to be.

As far as brakes go, this car has over 173,000 miles, put on by wife and me exclusively. Original brakes still have lots of life. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Dave

Hey Dave,

That is amazing that at 173k on the clock you have original pads and rotors; your rear shoes must look brand new!

If you did the sway bar then a lower control arm is nothing.

Hardest part of the job is getting the castle nut off if the ball stud starts to spin; if you have an impact (even a battery 1/2” drive will work) it will spin right off. If not you can still get it.
You said the guy in the video took 1.5 hours? Just to R&R a lower control arm?

Can you link the video for me? I have a sneaking suspicion he might have done more than is necessary and hopefully I can save you some time. I can do that job in my driveway with hand tools in less than 30 minutes. Granted, I’m a professional and time was always money but damn 90 minutes is insane.

And a tip of my hat to you at 65 years old still wrenchin’

Talk to you later

Justin

 

[logandsawman]

Here it is:

It was a helpful video but I feel like he left out a lot of stuff, like just telling us what sockets he was using. Not a biggie but saves me checking a few.

Also, using a crescent wrench? I do sometimes but only as a last resort.

Thanks, Dave

 

[SuperS13]

So I did both lower control arms at the same time, you will need an impact gun for sure, and I recommend wd40 and let that penetrate couple hours at a time before re spraying. The day before, I sprayed wd40 6 times with 3 hours in between. Made things alot easier. The rear inner control arm bolt is a 22mm around 3in long and is connected to the body the inner front bolt is a bear and 20mm I believe I used on the nut end a wrench to steady the nut. The balljoint side is a 15mm nut use a small drybar and tap w a hammer and use the pry bar to pop out. If you can manage get new inner control arm bolts as they are tty if not use red loctite on 6 threads about .5inch from the end and rear torque is 80ftlbs front is 100ftlbs spec

 

[logandsawman]

So I did both lower control arms at the same time, you will need an impact gun for sure, and I recommend wd40 and let that penetrate couple hours at a time before re spraying. The day before, I sprayed wd40 6 times with 3 hours in between. Made things alot easier. The rear inner control arm bolt is a 22mm around 3in long and is connected to the body the inner front bolt is a bear and 20mm I believe I used on the nut end a wrench to steady the nut. The balljoint side is a 15mm nut use a small drybar and tap w a hammer and use the pry bar to pop out. If you can manage get new inner control arm bolts as they are tty if not use red loctite on 6 threads about .5inch from the end and rear torque is 80ftlbs front is 100ftlbs spec

I got the control arm on, I am not a pro but will share the photos. I started at 12:45 pm and was just tightening the final bolt around 7:30 pm, less 2 trips to hardware store, 1 trip to NAPA, coffee break and supper.

Here are the tools and work place, the car was well blocked




I was able to get this loose first, I had to use a pipe to loosen it;



The other side was easier, no pipe needed



Where the combination wrench is, I did not need anything cause it was welded on




I had to raise the wheel some go get the assembly slid into place, I then blocked it and lined up the ball joint part and it jacked in easy, the rest lined up using a little lever to help it along



If you are a backyard mechanic, give yourself plenty of time. I had to use a 4 1/2" angle grinder to get some of the stuff off. The "Pickle forks" ball joint separators were essential. Also, like said above, I used WD-40 liberally prior to disassembly and during

Dave

 

[SuperS13]

I got the control arm on, I am not a pro but will share the photos. I started at 12:45 pm and was just tightening the final bolt around 7:30 pm, less 2 trips to hardware store, 1 trip to NAPA, coffee break and supper.

Here are the tools and work place, the car was well blocked


View attachment 16051

I was able to get this loose first, I had to use a pipe to loosen it;

View attachment 16052

The other side was easier, no pipe needed

View attachment 16053

Where the combination wrench is, I did not need anything cause it was welded on


View attachment 16055

I had to raise the wheel some go get the assembly slid into place, I then blocked it and lined up the ball joint part and it jacked in easy, the rest lined up using a little lever to help it along

View attachment 16056

If you are a backyard mechanic, give yourself plenty of time. I had to use a 4 1/2" angle grinder to get some of the stuff off. The "Pickle forks" ball joint separators were essential. Also, like said above, I used WD-40 liberally prior to disassembly and during

Dave

Great write up buddy pretty much what I did except had a ryobi cordless 1/2"drive impact gun which helped. Took me around 9 hrs total for both control arms

 

[macdiesel]

An easy tip for installing is to put the rear bushing in first then swing the lca forward to install the ball joint and front bushing. I replaced the TTY bolts as well. And the ball joint nut/bolt too.

depending on the mileage I’d go ahead and replace all the tie rods.

 

[rolla48]

Hardest part of the job is getting the castle nut off if the ball stud starts to spin; if you have an impact (even a battery 1/2” drive will work) it will spin right off. If not you can still get it.

The bottom of the balljoint has a hex-head on it, used to keep the balljoint shaft fixed while you undo the nut. An 8mm socket on the end holding it it place will let you undo the 18mm balljoint nut.

 

[logandsawman]

The bottom of the balljoint has a hex-head on it, used to keep the balljoint shaft fixed while you undo the nut. An 8mm socket on the end holding it it place will let you undo the 18mm balljoint nut.

This part was the easiest, loosening the nut.

Also, the previous comment about getting the control arm on didn't make much sense to me as it went on rather easy as I did it.

There was also a comment about a castle nut on the disassembly, I did not encounter any.