Upper/lower ball joints -Installation
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,161
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From: Orangeburg, NY
Upper/lower ball joints -Installation
I am thinking on installing new ball joints and bushings on my 89. Is this a do-it-yourself or are there special tools involved for removal of old and pressing in new. There are also supposed to be rivets involved. Any advise is greatly appreciated.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 1,801
Likes: 2
From: St. Paul MN
Re: Upper/lower ball joints -Installation (89 Bob L)
It is not a extremely hard task to do. I did mine and I'm not a very good mechanic. Just go slow and it should be fine. The hardest single part is to get the upper control arms off because you have to take a bunch of stuff off. You do have to drill out the rivets holding the upper ball joint into the control arm but that isn't hard. The replacement ball joint just bolts into the control arm. I took the lower control arms to a shop and had them press the old ball joints out and press in the new ones. The mechanic was afraid to press in the new ones because he said they were too tight. Don't worry, the control arms are made out of special metal that will accept the press in ball joint. He thought it would crack the alloy control arm but it didn't. The easiest way to get the rubber bushings out of the control arms is to burn them out with a propane torch. Just keep the rubber burning and it will come out. Don't get them too hot. Others have drilled bunches of holes in the rubber and hammered them out. I like fire, hahaha. Getting the new bushings in is easy in a vise. Why not put on new tie rod ends while your at it? I would sure hate to have a tie rod end break at high speed going into a corner, ouch. Good luck.
Pro
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 686
Likes: 0
From: Crystal Lake, IL USA
Re: Upper/lower ball joints -Installation (Bob86ZZ4)
My experience was exactly like Bob86ZZ4 including having to drill the rivets, having a shop press the lowers, burning out the bushings. There was no torque spec on reassembling the uppers and the prevailing opinion is that the 120 ft-lb I put on the two large nuts is excessive, but it's holding up so far.
I found out afterward that the local dealer would charge only $10 more than my cost to do the replacement, including alignment. They weren't at all reasonable if you include bushings, though. And who knows which mechanic would get assigned to your car?
I found out afterward that the local dealer would charge only $10 more than my cost to do the replacement, including alignment. They weren't at all reasonable if you include bushings, though. And who knows which mechanic would get assigned to your car?
Pro
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 650
Likes: 0
From: Flushing NY
Re: Upper/lower ball joints -Installation (89 Bob L)
if you go to pepboys they will rent you the tool that is needed everything after is a breeze without the tool thats a different subject entirely plus you get lifetime warranty on these parts as well if you buy the joints fm them
