D3 upper ball joint , pin spinning ?
- Thread starter Thommo805
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Anaconda
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Yep, that's what it's for. I would clean it up with a wire brush first and spray some sort of releasing fluid on it.
Thank you
Nodge68
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If you're doing the drive shaft, there's no need to remove the upper ball joint. The hub can simply swing out to allow the shaft to clear the hub.
Oh I’ve already popped the joint I watched a few you tube vids and they all removed that nut to get it to drop for room if not needed I prob won’t bother then although I suppose it be a pain to get back done up now
Nodge68
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I've done lower arms, wheel bearings, drive shafts and shocks/air bags, and never had to pop the top ball joints, except when replacing said upper wishbones.
I recently had my nsf drive shaft out to replace a diff seal, and I removed the top ball joint nut as its easier to get to than the bottom one, be aware of the abs sensor, ie dont clout/break the thing off!
With any ball joint if it starts to spin as you tighten or loosen it, get a bar and wedge the taper as hard as you can into the arm and try and undo the nut, the allen/torx keys are only ever any good when used to install a new joint, thereafter they are a waste of space.
In this case simply jacking the lower arm upwards should be enough for the taper to get a grip on the arm to allow you to remove the but.
Gord Wedman
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Sometimes an impact wrench will remove a nut from a spinning ball joint where using steady pull on a wrench does not work.
Was trying this but the upper keeps going with it goes in a little just not enough , can’t get leverage with a bar , how much can I jack up the lower arm I was concerned the top arm could bend etc ? , correct about the hex key what a load of ****e
1988smithy
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You won't bend the upper arm mate
So if I keep going it should just push in rather then bend just didn’t how far up the arms would go
1988smithy
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You can go as far as feels right...
Anaconda
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The threads need to be clean of dirt, rust, grime, first to give yourself a fitting chance using any method really. You need some wd40 or similar and work the nut backwards and forwards. Sometimes nothing works and you have to cut it off!
Yea then it’s replacing the ball joint I’m not keen on that lol looks tough
No need to change anything, you slice the nut off one side with an angle grinder, then rotate the nut 180 degrees and do the same again, do it slow and you wont harm the threads.
I do this all the time, but I slice the nut lengthwise with a 1mm slitting disc, so long as you can get the tool in there it is fast and easy.
Must take some control to not hit the thread though , but this idea gives me some hope tbh not something I would have thought of a very good idea this
You can see it as the metal you are grinding/cutting gets real thin it heats up and turns blue, making it reasonably easy to see.
Cheers appreciate that I’m going to have one more go tommorow at jacking it up and leverage then will go for the cut .
Ok got nut off with heat , today struggled to get the shaft free from the diff moved a few cm , just so difficult trying to pry it out , and getting something under neath to hit against it seems almost impossible to be able to hit with enough force to get it to free , unless other suggestions think il need to get a puller if there’s a suitable one ?
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