White92Cutlass Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 My 1993 Cutlass Convertible has to have ball joints and tie rod ends to pass inspection. I did the tie rod ends and driver's side ball joint without a problem. Ball joint on the passenger side had 4 thick rivets holding it on whereas the driver's side had four bolts. I broke 5 Black and Decker drill bits trying to drill the rivets out (I did get two of them drilled out). Picked up a Titanium drill bit tonight that I'm hoping will do the job. Any idea why GM would rivet ball joints in knowing that they would need replaced at some point?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Cheaper to manufacture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Your lucky these ones are riveted... some of the newer cars you have to replace the whole lower control arm to change the ball joint.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Replacing the control arm is easier than pressing in a ball joint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I just use a grinder and knock the heads of the rivets off with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white4d96 Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I just use a grinder and knock the heads of the rivets off with that Easiest way to do it. It took me a couple days to do mine as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 So glad that I own an air hammer:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White92Cutlass Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Yeah, I was wishing that I had a grinder or something else to use. The titanium drill bit was about as useless as the other drill bits. I ended up hammering a flat head screwdriver onto the side that had the rivets drilled out and prying down until I broke the ball joint off the car. I then used a hammer to knock the two broken rivets out. I will never use a drill in this situation again. Headed to the alignment shop tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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