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ease of r&r ball joints


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well the topic says it all, how hard are they to do, i can only fin 3 hours in the next few months to have time and if i can't do em in a few hours i'll have to take the damn thing to a damn plac and have em done (only cuz of time) thanks Jay

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If they've been done before it should be relatively easy. When I replaced mine it took me longer than normal since I was doing it in the rain and I didn't have the right tools. If you have the right tools and a decent garage you'll be able to finish it in about 1 hour per side.

 

BTW: You must have a ball-joint remover, a decent sledgehammer and a powerful drill with a 1/4 drill bit. The drill should be an 18.0V and the drill bit should be a cobalt penetrated bit to make the job easier.

 

well the topic says it all, how hard are they to do, i can only fin 3 hours in the next few months to have time and if i can't do em in a few hours i'll have to take the damn thing to a damn plac and have em done (only cuz of time) thanks Jay
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I drilled the rivets out. That in itself took a long time. I probably should have used an angle grinder or something like that on it instead, but I didn't want to spend the money (big mistake).

It probably took me at least 3hrs EACH to pound the balljoints off of what was left of the rivets. Then it took me about 1-2hrs to pound the rivets out of the knuckles. They wanted to smush when I pounded on them, so I had to take my Dremel and cut off the smushed parts as that was preventing it from going through the hole.

Overall, it took 2 entire afternoons.

Maybe you will have better luck with it. It was a painful job for me, and I even had the knuckles out of the car.

 

Dropping the fuel tank to change the fuel pump was easier.

Pulling the axles to change the CV boots was easier.

Installing the HUD was easier.

Installing the DIC was easier.

Installing a new power steering pressure pipe was easier.

 

In other words, I didn't like this job. At all. :(

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Guest TurboSedan

Dropping the fuel tank to change the fuel pump was easier.

Pulling the axles to change the CV boots was easier.

Installing the HUD was easier.

Installing the DIC was easier.

Installing a new power steering pressure pipe was easier.

 

In other words, I didn't like this job. At all. :(

 

:( :( i have '97 strut/knuckles (brake upgrade time) that are about to go in that need new ball joints. i remember when i replaced my fuel pump i thought the 5-speed/engine swap was much easier. i might contract the ball joint job out....doesn't sound like fun at all.....but i do have an angle grinder i guess :?

 

btw, anyone ever replace a rear window on a CS sedan....now THAT is a PITA....spent all afternoon figuring out how to get the window in there without messing anything up. i'm stil only half done with that job but at least the window is in and some cat can't come along and piss on the carpet or something :lol:

joshua (about to take an 8 hour drive to Minnesota....BORING!!!) :wink:

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Easy job.... If you are using a floorjack get the car as high as safely possible and use some jackstands.

-Take wheel off (duh)

-Undo the 36mm nut on the axle

-Undo the 18mm nut on the balljoint

-Using a large prybar, pry down on the A-arm and pull the strut outward... Make sure your axles are coming out of the wheel bearing and not the tranny, and the balljoint stud is clearing the the sleeve in the A-arm

-To start either push the strut around to the front or back of the A-arm depending on what rivets you are drilling first

-use a centering punch to mark the rivet head dead on center

-Use a drill and step up in size as you go... All you have to do is drill to the depth of the rivets head -NO deeper. You should finish with quite a large bit - I think I used a 1/2"

-After this there should be no rivet head visible on the bottom.

-Take a punch and drive the rest of the rivet up and out.

-installation is the reverse of removal only with nuts n' bolts...

~ I prolly forgot something(nothing major for sure), If you have anymore questions just ask

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You should've called me over, I would've helped you out. Next time you have a major headache with your car, call me and BrianP and maybe Hazmatic and with our combined efforts we'll get the job done in no time.

 

I understand what you're saying though, it took me 1 hour to replace both outer tie-rod ends, yet it took me 3 fucking hours to replace the

passenger-side ball joint. Drilling those rivets out was a real pain in the ass. I had a heavy-duty pneumatic drill with a cobalt penetrated drill bit and it still took long to remove those damned GM rivets. Oh well, I guess it's a safety measure. If I had the proper tools to begin with it probably would've taken me only an hour and a half per side. But as I mentioned earlier, it took me 3 hours because I didn't have the right tools and I was doing it in the fucking rain. :)

 

I guess I should've called you guys over. :)

 

I drilled the rivets out. That in itself took a long time. I probably should have used an angle grinder or something like that on it instead, but I didn't want to spend the money (big mistake).

It probably took me at least 3hrs EACH to pound the balljoints off of what was left of the rivets. Then it took me about 1-2hrs to pound the rivets out of the knuckles. They wanted to smush when I pounded on them, so I had to take my Dremel and cut off the smushed parts as that was preventing it from going through the hole.

Overall, it took 2 entire afternoons.

Maybe you will have better luck with it. It was a painful job for me, and I even had the knuckles out of the car.

 

Dropping the fuel tank to change the fuel pump was easier.

Pulling the axles to change the CV boots was easier.

Installing the HUD was easier.

Installing the DIC was easier.

Installing a new power steering pressure pipe was easier.

 

In other words, I didn't like this job. At all. :(

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I replaced the rear window on many vehicles and it never took me longer than 15 minutes. But then again I have a lot of experience doing that shit. :)

 

The most difficult window replacement I've had was on a GM Dustbuster minivan, also known as the Lumina APV. Fucking pain in the ass. I'm talking about the front windshield. Damn piece of shit, I needed the help of another bodyman to do the job. :)

 

:( :( i have '97 strut/knuckles (brake upgrade time) that are about to go in that need new ball joints. i remember when i replaced my fuel pump i thought the 5-speed/engine swap was much easier. i might contract the ball joint job out....doesn't sound like fun at all.....but i do have an angle grinder i guess :?

 

btw, anyone ever replace a rear window on a CS sedan....now THAT is a PITA....spent all afternoon figuring out how to get the window in there without messing anything up. i'm stil only half done with that job but at least the window is in and some cat can't come along and piss on the carpet or something :lol:

joshua (about to take an 8 hour drive to Minnesota....BORING!!!) :wink:

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