90 terrano lower ball joint

[ArvinSlayer]

OMG!!!! This has to be the most frustrating i have ever encountered. Spent the weekend trying to get the lower balljoint, that didnt work, so went in today and got a balljoint removal tool, the one that is shaped like a tuning fork, and jammed that in the lower ball joint, and it did nothing??? what can i possibly do?? i am now trying to remove the hub, bearing, and rotor so i can move the CV forward so i can put a 22mm socket and remove the upper ball joint from the spindle so the spindle will fall out, but I dont have a snap ring remover, it is getting very draining, and i dont have a ride to go work, how can i possibly remove this goddammed lower ball joint???

Peace

Arvin The local noob

[Suza]

Get a decent size hammer and give the seperator the good news . If that dosent work get a bigger hammer

[lax2wlg]

Any luck?

Maybe some heat around the knuckle where the lower bj tapers in??

Otherwise You could remove the whole knuckle maybe so you can get it in a vice. Dont have to mess around w bearings to get it out.

-remove freewheeling hub (shit you might need a snap ring tool for this)
-unbolt brake caliper
-remove upper control arm 4x bolts holding it to the upper bj
-remove steering tie rod using your seperator
-remove lower control arm 4x bolts holding it to the lower bj
-pull the knuckle/rotor all out as one, careful of the cv boots

[hamboy]

Maybe some heat around the knuckle where the lower bj tapers in??

I would strongly advise against heat on anything like that as it would cause the steel to go brittle and posibly cause a major suspension failure.

[ladeda]

that fork ya got will work, it will destroy the rubber boot but it will seperate the joint. if not, then your not hittin it hard enough. can't stress the importance of a good hammer and a good clean line to swing it to get a heavy solid wack. a builders claw hammer or similar won't be big enough. your gona be so stoked when it goes pop bro, keep at it it will happen, BJs realy can be a barstool sometimes. I wouldn't heat it up either simply cos you should be able to do it without heat. it all about the shock of the blow that seperates the taperd cone from its hole. also leave the nut on the thread a bit that way if ya miss and hit it ya wont damge the thread.
have ya tried the 2nd hammer trick yet?

[datsunsafari]

if the nut on the balljoint is facing down undo it untill it is flush with the end of the tread,use trolly jack to jack up under it and put the weight of the truck on it and give it a smack on the side with a fbh

[nstacey]

This type of ball joint separator works well:

[DEATH_INC]

and give it a smack on the side with a fbh

Yup, never had one that won't go with a big smack to the side of the female taper.

[ArvinSlayer]

heya guys

thanks heaps for all the suggestion, i have just got some tools today, pretty bushed from work, will have a go at it tmrw, but will have pix and sort up when i have a go at it, again, thanks so much and will keep it posted!!

Peace

Arvin the local noob

[ArvinSlayer]

ANNNNDDD she is fixed woot woot!!! Decided to not much around and b a lazy bastard and went ahead and attempted it again and it was a success!! Here are the steps as follows;

1. Tools, i cant stress how important it is to have the right tools, which are a 22mm spanner, a 23mm socket, a good sized breaker bar (this is pretty awesome), 17mm spanner, 14mm socket, a pickle fork, a good 4 to 5 pound hammer, allen keys, a bottle jack, and a snap ring plier.

2. Firstly remove the tyre, the hub and the brake caliper, here u need the 22mm for the tyres, allen keys for the hub, snap ring(cir clip) plier to remove the circlip so the rest of the other hub brake, which effectively will free the CV splines so they can move forward and backward.

3. Undo both the top and bottom bolt joint nut, but dont remove them from the thread, leave it right at the end. then jack the lower arm up so the jack pushes the arm up. It is critical that the jack holds it up for the entire period or the repair, as the lower arm is under tremendous torque from the torsion bars which it is attached to.

4. Once the nuts are undone, 22mm for upper, 23mm for lower, with your hammer, smack the female joint of the upper balljoint, which is the spindle top arm, and the joint should let go fairly easily, as the upper joint does not take as much pressure as the bottom joint does, so it comes off easily with a few strong taps of the hammer.

5. Once the upper joint has given way, take the nut out, and pull the upper arm up to release the top half of the spindle. so at this point u will have the spindle hanging off just the bottom joint and the tierod.

6. Then insert your pickle fork on the lower joint, (note, this will almost definitely destroy your lower ball joint bushes, but that is not as issue here as its already munted and i am replacing it), and smash that fork in, and once its snugly inside, hit it from the top to create a leverage that will push the taper off. The spindle hanging will aid you as it adds extra leverage to pull it out of the taper.

7. Once the lower taper has given way, remove the bolt, and remove the spindle. You would want to place the spindle somewhere supported, as it will still have the CV shaft loosely in it.

8. Proceed to remove the lower ball joint from the lower arm, and install the new one, use the breaker bar liberally here to remove the nuts as they are on there hard!

9. Once the new joint is in place, insert the lower end of the spindle into the lower joint. At this point you would want to turn your steering so you have heaps of tierod at your side, ie if your are doing the left joint, turn the steering full left. This will give you some room to move the spindle around. ITS HEAVY, but not impossible to get into place, also moving the CV in and out helps.

10. once the lower joint is in the lower spindle, align the upper spindle to the upper joint, and start doing up the lower nut, this will move the spindle upwards, and push it into the upper joint. Some persuasion with a mallet also helps.

11. At this point, once you get the upper spindle arm in the upper joint, immedietely put the nut on and just wind it by hand for the moment. Then keep tightening the lower, then upper, then torque it up upper then lower, or whatever order u please. AND DONT FORGET THE COTTER PINS.


12. And crack your bourbon as the job is almost done, now you just have to put all the bits and pieces back on as it was, release the jack from the lower arm, and put the tyre on, and take the car of the jack stands, and your done, proceed to finish your bourbon, take a breather, and pat yourself on your back!

I couldnt have done it without all the advise from forum members, thank you so much guys, u guys rock!

Peace

Arvin The Local Noob

[lax2wlg]

Awesome write up, I'm going to refer to this when I do my lower bjs during the R200 swap

[fullthrottle]

and give it a smack on the side with a fbh

Yup, never had one that won't go with a big smack to the side of the female taper.

Too true.
I usually place a large hammer on the opposite side of the female taper and then give the other side a good smack with another big hammer. Shocks the little bitch out of the hole.

[ladeda]

on ya bro