bfox88

iTrader: (2)

How big of a deal is it to replace a drivers side lower ball joint?

FireBirdKnight

proper ball joint tools and a cool head... about 2 hours work time
usually murrays or advance autoparts lends out ball joint tools w/ instructions 4 free!

bfox88

iTrader: (2)

thanks alot for the feedback. so it honestly isnt that big of a job?

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

depends on what you consider big. how much suspension/brake work have you done before?

basically, jack up that side of the car, put a stand under the spring pocket. remove your wheel, remove your caliper bolts, remove your caliper, and hang out rotor off to the side (use bailing wire or something, so it doesn't stress your brake line).
Remove cotter pin from steering knuckle/ball joint, remove castellated nut. Use pickle fork and BFG (BIG!), to seperate the two. probably want to turn the steering wheel to full lock, to make things easier now. wiggle the steering knuckle out of the way (this is why it helps to have it turned a certain way, you'll see when you get there.)
then assemble your ball joint press, and press out your ball joint. The ball joint press and pickle fork are rentable. You'll need a snipe (a pipe) unless you're a real yard ape. Pressing out and pressing in the ball joint takes some muscle. (hence the snipe).
press out ball joint, grease new one, press in. pop on new rubber boot. put steering knuckle back in place, put on castle nut, torque to spec. put on cotter pin. put brakes back on, and lower car.

important note: your jack stand is under the a-arm, because once you remove your steering knuckle, your coil spring will want to seperate it all, keep the stand below the a-arm, not the frame.

took me a few hours to do both last summer.

FireBirdKnight

most likely u will need to take it in 4 an alignment as well...

bfox88

iTrader: (2)

hmm, those were some great instructions sonix. not sure if i want to take this one on myself though...i think i should just for the experience though. i figure as long as i have the proper tools and my chiltons by my side i should be alright...i think? have to wait till my dad goes on another business trip cause after i did my body work he decided he doesnt want the driveway and garage to become and auto shop anymore.

Connan1

I hear that some vehicles have ball joints that have a small spot-weld attaching them to the control arm. Do ours? (I have a 1992 RS 5.0 L TBI)

I'm in the middle of pressing out the right-front lower ball joint, but it is not coming out evenly. The outside of the joint is coming down but the inside of the joint (side closer to the engine) really isnt coming down. So, the spot weld question came to mind. Should I be looking for one with my grinder ready to go?

Also, the replacement ball joint I got (cheapest one Advance had, around $12) does not have a grease escape opening on the boot (that I'm supposed to make sure faces inward, toward engine and not toward brake disk). It looks like if the grease is going to escape, then it would probably escape upward (where the boot makes contact with the ball joint stud. Should I be concerned about this?

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

nope, no spot weld. If it's comine out sideways, not much you can do about it, maybe try and hammer it back up to straighten it out... but yea, just reef it out.
hopefully the new joint you have is a moog/trw piece. Those are perfectly acceptable. Some cheapo chinese junk i'd avoid though.
Mine were ~$45 per, so $12 for you is about right.

I never did see a grease escape hole, so I wouldn't worry about it much.

Connan1

The ball joint did come out eventually.

Before getting the ball joint press, I tried to hammer the ball joint out. It was like the ball joint and the A-arm were 1 single piece of cast iron. The ball joint didn’t move at all.

I thought the socket wrench I was using to turn the drive screw of the ball joint press was going to break b/c of all the pressure I was applying. But the joint came out. Just used all my “yard ape” strength to turn the ball joint press (which looks like a heavy duty C-clamp) even more.

Putting the new joint in was even harder. It would not go in evenly. I put a jack stand under the part of the ball joint that was lagging behind, and then I let the weight of the car come down on it. That was not enough pressure to push the joint in, so I started to hammer the A-arm with my BFH, but that didn’t work either.

So, I jack the car back up (jack under A-arm where spring sits) and use the ball joint press again. Used my “yard ape” strength again to turn the press up to where I thought my socket wrench would shatter. Then my bro reminded me that we have a couple heavy duty hand tools that would work better, a plumber’s adjustable wrench, and a traditional adjustable wrench.

I put the plumber’s adjustable wrench on the drive screw of the ball joint press, then I put the traditional adjustable wrench on the handle of the plumber’s wrench to create a long lever arm (my yard ape strength alone was not enough). We didn’t have a pipe to use as a long lever arm. Slowly but surely, the SOB went in. I’m surprised nothing broke given all the torque pressure I had to generate.

Thanks to Sonix and mrr23 for your posts.

BALL JOINT REPLACEMENT

camaronewbie

Those rental ball joint presses never run them in or out straight - I just keep moving the press around to attack the side that lags behind.

naf

iTrader: (7)

With the c-clamp style press, it's sometimes easier to hold the screw/nut in place with a wrench then whack the c-part of the clamp with a bfh.

camarodubs

I have an 87 camaro and I am replacing the ball joints, I am going back in with the passenger side and I have it crooked and it is about a 1\4 of an inch out. I used the c clamp press, but I just wasnt lookin at it while i was doing it

flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

wow you guys realy should invest in some air tools :-;. i know i for one would pretty much choose to do nothing on my car without a trusty 800 ft lb 1/2 impact gun lol.

safe to say you will definetly not see me guerilla arming a c-clamp style press on a ball joint putting it on or off.

then again i guess you cant torque it properly like that but, ive done lots and lots of them and never had a problem just dont go insane.

ill post up when i do mine, havent done so since trade school with hand tools and a sledge hammer, definetly wasnt much fun on my last camaro.