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How to: Front Ball Joints, Tie Rods with pics.

Well I decided to do a 5 lug swap, and after ripping my old crusted ball joints apart pretty bad, and my passenger side outer tie rod end seizing to my 4 bolt hub, I figured it was time to do some maintence. I have read a couple threads on how to go about it.. I figured what the hey, Might as well take some extra pics and show people how it goes along.

I got my tie rod ends at checker, however they did not have the ball joint press so I went to autozone to get the ball joints. The tie rod ends were $22.99 each and the ball joints were $25.99. Nothing like a little over $100 for a rubber hunk with some metal. Ill get the brand and part numbers tommorow..

I would suggest buying some PB blaster if you do not have some in the garage in the first place. These can be a real pain if they are rusted together. The day before you attempt to do this I would spray all of the places, the tie rod ends, both nuts there. Also the front lower ball joint nuts and studs. If you havent taken your struts off lately then you might want to spray some on there also. The axle nuts, whatever these are called, the 32mm nuts under the wheel caps should also be hit, My 150ft/lb impact couldnt get them off, until I put some PB Blaster on it.

You do not have to remove the caliper to do this, however you need to unbolt the brake line holder on the strut. The tie rod has a bolt that holds it in place on the shaft. The shaft also spins and screws in. You need to loosen the nut to get the tie rod off. There is also a nut on the top of the hub mounnt, Its a 19mm or 3/4" if I remember right, that needs to come off.

Tie rods coming off:

Now my drivers side came off pretty easy, my passenger side was a whole new ball game. If you have to hit it with a hammer, then screw the nut about half way on to beat it. I did this for about 2 days on and off while I was doing stuff with the other parts of the car, I messed the threads up BAD because I didnt think to put the nut on to hammer it, It never came off, its still stuck to my 4 lug hub in the garage. The way to take it off on the hub, is unbolt the hub from the lower ball joint, then just twist and turn the whole hub off, It should come off just fine.

When you put the tie rods back on, you probobly wont be able to torque it down because the stud will move inside the ball. I just used a 1-1/2 ton jack with a deep socket 14mm, or which ever fits nice in your jack, and put slight pressure on the bottom of the tie rod, this should allow the stud to grab so you can torque it down.

The lower ball joint assembly is interesting and I will say right now that the clips are a pain.

To remove the lowers, obviously unbolt the nut, and get the hub out of the way. You need to pull, rip, tear what have you, the rubber bolt and find the clip that is holding it to the control arm, Remove this, its also a pain. My passenger side looked to be stock, it had the clip that you need the special pliers for. I just used a screw driver and pliers to pull them off. Once that is done, you can use the press to pop it out. Both of my joints came out insides first, then I had to hit them with a hammer to get the sleeve out.. I forgot to remove the clip on one and this happened.

To assemble back. Remove the c clip, nut and rubber boot from the new ball joint, set up the press and use it to push the sleeve back in, I used an impact for this but you need to be very careful to make sure the sleeve is lined up and you do not crush it.

Now the fun part, once the ball joint is up in the hole, you need to put the clip back on, both of mine took me about 10 min, I bent them, one leg up, one leg down to make it easier, I figured it wasnt that big of deal, have a couple screw drivers, pliers and vise grips ready.

Once that is on, the part I forgot.. PUT THE GREASE ON! I just smeared it across the top of the ball and used a thin film on the bottom of the boot. Put the rubber boot over and use the press very gently to press the boot on, Make sure its lined up! Should go on, maybe a little grease come out the bottom.. Put the hub back on and bolt the nut back on.

That should be it. I will edit this because there are probobly some errors and parts I need to elaborate on more but this is the main jist of it.





 
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dont forget to add in the removal and caution to take with the wheel speed sensor.
Oh, and there are two differnt types of tie rod setups IIRC.
And elaborate on the balljoint nut, you NEED to back the nut of untill its above the thread if you are to reuse any parts. you dont want to bust the thread up if it can be avoided.
Good job i must add, did you do the bushes at the same time?
Might make sense to seeing as you are pulling most of the suspension apart anyway.
 

Quote:
dont forget to add in the removal and caution to take with the wheel speed sensor.
Oh, and there are two differnt types of tie rod setups IIRC.
And elaborate on the balljoint nut, you NEED to back the nut of untill its above the thread if you are to reuse any parts. you dont want to bust the thread up if it can be avoided.
Good job i must add, did you do the bushes at the same time?
Might make sense to seeing as you are pulling most of the suspension apart anyway.



No I didnt.. I just did the tie rods because it seized and I ripped the sh*t out of the lower ball joints. I figured I would take pics since a ton of people ask about it and theres no pics... Just mainly to help the less mechanically inclined.
 

Not to be a stickler, but the axle nut is a 32mm not a 23mm /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Overall though excellent write up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif
 

Ted Andkilde

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2003
Messages
1,181
Location
Windsor, Canada
Hey guys

One thing to add -- looks like you had the right idea but the wrong target for your hammer.

You don't hit the tie-rod to get it loose, you hit the hub casting -- with a ball-pien where the red arrow is marked. You don't have to go crazy but you have to hit it pretty solidly, a few whacks and they come loose. You do back off the nut first and leave it on so when it comes loose it doesn't swing down unexpectedly. All the hammering does is vibrate the taper loose. You can also use a "pickle fork" but that usually tears up the tie-rod boot.

The ball joint can be knocked out with a hammer -- you tear off the rubber boot, remove the retaining clip and support the lower control arm securely with an axle stand -- then wind up and smack the crap out of the ball joint -- two three good hits and it flies out -- be careful not to hit the control arm with the hammer.

You can get a cheap BJ press for about $50 at Harbor Freight (or any other cheap-ass Chinese tool place you have locally), $150 - $200 for a Mac or Snap-On or most auto parts stores have a tool lend program.
 

Quote:
how much does the ball joint tool cost?



Rented it for free from the local auto parts store.
 

Polish

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2005
Messages
8,936
Location
NE, IN
I used these ball joints.

TRW from Parts America

They seemed to be pretty nice quality and went in fine. I ripped the first boot by trying to press it on with a 32mm socket. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

On the second I didn't want to do that again so I used the outlet of a stock 1g Jpipe. It fit over the boot and pressed directly on the ring of the boot and slid it down without any fuss.

The install is covered pretty well above but I'll explain my experience. I removed the front and rear control arm bolts and dropped the control arm because I was putting in the Poly Bushings from Energy Suspension (The 1g AWD kit, it fits our car as well). I removed the tie rod end by taking the nut off and tapping on the bolt which made it drop out. I was replacing them anyway. The Swaybar endlinks must be disconnected also. Then I loosened the ball joint nut as much as I could and used a pickle fork to break it loose. Once it popped loose I removed the nut all the way and brought the control arm to the bench. I popped the old Ball joint C clips out with a screwdriver on one side, the other side was really tight so I cut it with a tiny cutting disc on a dremel and then it came right out. I then smacked the ball joints about 10-20 times with my 3lb sledge and they just fell out. I cleaned up the little bit of rust where the ball joints slide in with a wire wheel and slid them in. You'll need to give the bottom a few smacks with a hammer to get it to seat all the way. Then install the new C clip and new bushings (if applicable) and put back on the car. I also did tie rod ends which turned out to be a major pain on one side. I got new lock nuts with mine (So I wanted to replace them) and one side came off fine I had to cut the other side off, so be prepared for something like this. The Tierods themselves came right off.

I used these tie rods from Summit Racing.

Moog Tie Rod Ends

As I said I know the install was covered above I just wanted to add my experience.

I also did the Whiteline sway bar bushings at the same time, which went on easily. Just make sure the sway bar is disconnected so you can easily move it. I had to jack up the hub so the half shaft wasn't resting on the sway bar, if not it makes it much more of a pain.

Oh and a ball joint tool (Pickle fork) is cheap, mine was 3$ and worked fine.
 
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s_firestone

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Joined
Jun 27, 2002
Messages
1,610
Location
Park City, UT USA
Quote:
Quote:
how much does the ball joint tool cost?



Rented it for free from the local auto parts store.



I bought the Harbor Freight 3 in 1 ball joint/U-joint/brake pin press today so I could press in new ball joints, the tool was $40. I was expecting some little 5" C clamp but just the C clamp about 11" long, heavy duty. Popped ball joints from both arms in about 5 minutes.

Ball Joint Press

 

A " pickle fork " will work well if you are careful. It will squish out some grease but if done properly won't destroy the rubber boot. It only cost about $10 but you can rent one for cheap.
 

14u2nV

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Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
9,398
Location
Agency/St. Joe, MO
Just to add to what was mentioned before, you do not need a pickle fork to do it. I used a mini sledge, whacked the side of the cast three times, and presto,, done.
There is a big X on the cast that is hard to see,, that's where I smacked it.




*Note I never once tapped on the threads. It works on all of these kind of joints. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

G

Staff member
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Feb 24, 2004
Messages
8,896
Location
zompton
Also if you don't want to chance ruining your bearings by smacking with a hammer, heat that X area & it will slide right out.
 

mikus

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
2,763
Location
Aurora IL
few points to add--

Ball joint boot is # MB808555. Same partno across 1g/2g. $7-8 at JNZ

I found that no amount of hammering, even on a pickle fork, could separate mine - a ball joint tool (a universal separator similar to the Mitsu specialty tool) for $18 at Harbor Freight + 20sec of light heat on the hub (X spot above) did it easily.

Tip to put boot on - a socket might get it done (1 5/8" looked right to me) but I found this easier -
1) point the balljoint towards inside of control arm and slide the boot over lip on that end. It's easy because how the balljoint position forces the boot towards that direction.
2) hold that end of the boot down, point balljoint slightly into the opposite direction. This will reduce the effort to seat the opposite end. Don't let that inside end slip off!
3) *carefully* use slip joint adjustable pliers (the type used often in plumbing) or similar, to grip down and seat the boot on the outside end towards wheel.
4) use pliers again to seat the remainder, move the balljoint slightly 'in' to reduce resistance as needed.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
I don't think that is correct on the boot part numbers. I just bought a bunch of these and did some on my VR4 and my 2g. The boots are different. The number you give is correct for 2g. I will get the correct 1g/VR4 number and post it.

The 1g boots are MB176047, and they are the same for front lower, and rear lower and upper.

 
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