slick Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 Yeah, mine are shot. I've read the Haynes manual, but are there any tips to replacing them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmokesGTP Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 What problems are you having? I'm just curious cause I think mine are gone as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 Like at lower speeds, my steering wheel was wobbling. So i took my car in to get the front tires rebalanced. It was fine until higher speeds. My steering wheels still shakes at higher speeds, and pulls to the left much more than i should. So, I came home, jacked my car up, and started looking around. My balljoint boots are in pieces, so i know dirt and water and grime has gotten in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 So, no tips, or has any ever done this? How long should i expect this to take me to do the ball joints on both front sides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 Do they come with new boots too, because mine are shot? Yes, struts will still be on the car. Drilling out the rivets is no problem with air tools . How much am i looking to spend on them? I just plan on getting some that are ready to be installed and be done with. Something that will work, but not crap out on me. Also, have NAPA and Auto zone around me, if that makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted December 9, 2003 Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7405&highlight=balljoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan94Z34 Posted December 9, 2003 Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 When we did the ball joints on my beretta, we took the hub assembly off the ball joint, then droped the subframe off. With it out of the car it was very easy to get the rivits out for the joints. We took the heads off with a air chasiel and pounded the middle part out with a punch and a brass hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 If you do stumble across TRW joints and can't get anything else then don't worry. TRW is a good brand that you can trust. Now a life time warranty(Moog) is good if your planning on keeping your car for years to come...so that is your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 How much should i expect to spend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomshado Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 I redid mine just a couple months ago. I bought Perfect Circle replacement parts (great brand, rarely heard of) BTW, they also offer a full lifetime warranty. Anyhow, they were about $48 US a piece, but came with a new boot and the grease fittings already installed. Step one, jack car. Step two, remove tire and brake caliper (its a T60 bit) Step three, take off rotor, set on a safe smooth flat surface, I saw a kid toss his into the ground in a parking lot, scratched the fuck out of the rotor, what an idiot. Step four: undo the bolts in the suspension arm, and take something long an dslim and pry the control arm down, until the peg of the balljoint is out of the arm. Step five: (here is where I take a different approach than most people) I fear drilling. Too much room to fuck shit up, so I grab my handy dandy air powered die grinder, although I feel a dremel would accomplish the same thing. Take a flexible grinding wheel to the rivets, and make them smooth with the rest of the control arm. Tap out the rivets with a punch. Next, grease the fittings before you put them back on, that way you don't have to manuever yourself in any way, besides, once you get these things on, you will want to go home. Next, loosely place the bolts for the base of the balljoint where they belong, and using the same technique as before, lower the control arm with the prybar, and place the stud back in its place. (I recommend getting a friend for this. Its going to take a bit of pressure to move that thing. tighten bolts, and put on the castle nut with cotter pin and bickety bam, that job is done. time for a beer. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate it at a 4. Then again, my 89 cutty and I tangled a few times. Changing the power steering rack was so much worse than changing ball joints, that this job is a gift compared to the other. I estimate about 2 hours for this job, and thats taking it nice and easy. While everything is apart, I think its also just as good a time to change the pads for the front brakes. It takes all of ten minutes, and they're already there. Thats just my two cents, however, new balljoints and brakes are soooo sweet the first spin out!!! man I love that feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Sweet guys, thanks. I've heard something about needing a special tool. Can any one verify this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Sweet guys, thanks. I've heard something about needing a special tool. Can any one verify this? They do make a tool that remove ball joints without messing up the boot, but since your boot is already shot, use a pickle fork, it's cheaper and quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 I just did this on the passanger side of my Grand Prix. It's not that hard to do. I took the wheel off, took off the brake caliper, mount, rotor, and then drilled out the rivets. That's not that hard to do, just start with a tiny drill bit, drill through, then go successively bigger, then use a screwdriver or something as a chisel to push the rivets out. I carefully used a bottle jack to jack up the aframe with balljoint stud in against the steering knuckle, and then used a screwdriver to align it. After that it was pretty simple to just bolt the balljoint to the knuckle. I didn't have a cotter pin, so I used a piece of coathanger and twisted it around itself :oops: I guess that was pretty dumb, but I've had no problems. I've been driving it pretty normally, (hard >:-) ) so I guess I did it right. It wasn't too hard, took about 4 hours for me, but that's only one side. Do allow yourself a good amount of time tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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