Dimensions so I can buy new ball joint boots

Stanleysteamer said:

I have a pretty long breaker bar, 1/2" that I use with an extension tube as like you I am getting on and arm strength was never my thing! But it was OK for doing up the axle hub nuts on my rear axle so it ought to be OK. I would never use it with a ratchet, I broke my thumb the other day when a 1/2" ratchet "let go". Even more annoyed as I never start the nut with anything other than a breaker bar.

Still would love to know what size nuts I need to order with the ball joints but am going to check out the vehicle's history first before ordering the special tools.

More later when i have the time. Have yesterday had to position a ladder in a death defying manner, using ratchet straps, to measure up for, manufacture and fit bits of wood to our soffit's end to stop crows nesting in there. Lovely to wake up without the noise of blo ody birds scratting around about 2 metres away from our heads! So got up a bit too late! (Couldn't get to them from inside the loft!)

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Just checked my LRDirect order for the nuts I ordered, the top is NY214047 and the lower NY216047. The shipping to France was more than the cost of the nuts! Doh!

Don't envy you up that ladder - I don't do heights.

Cheers.

PopPops said:

Just checked my LRDirect order for the nuts I ordered, the top is NY214047 and the lower NY216047. The shipping to France was more than the cost of the nuts! Doh!

Don't envy you up that ladder - I don't do heights.

Cheers.

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Thanks for that!
Easy tip, don't look down!
If your house has clay tiles who replaces them when they break? Ours go for a pastime. We live in an area where the hailstones can be as big as billiard or even tennis balls. Flipping micro climate!

Stanleysteamer said:

Thanks for that!
If your house has clay tiles who replaces them when they break? Ours go for a pastime. We live in an area where the hailstones can be as big as billiard or even tennis balls. Flipping micro climate!

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We don't have hailstones like that, but this is tornado alley, so the clay tiles get scrambled. We have a builder friend who is happy to unscramble them for beer tokens. I labour for him up to roof level! Luckily, not many break, they are so soft.

PopPops said:

We don't have hailstones like that, but this is tornado alley, so the clay tiles get scrambled. We have a builder friend who is happy to unscramble them for beer tokens. I labour for him up to roof level! Luckily, not many break, they are so soft.

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We have the Vent d'Autan which blows for 3 days or 6 days or occasionally 9 days. Bit like the Mistral or the Tramontane.
Not only can ours break but they can split so I need to get up among them and kick off the moss as in the Elton John song. Luckily they are cheap and easy to replace. Just have to watch out for the wasp nests!

PopPops said:

We don't have hailstones like that, but this is tornado alley, so the clay tiles get scrambled. We have a builder friend who is happy to unscramble them for beer tokens. I labour for him up to roof level! Luckily, not many break, they are so soft.

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Before I retired but wifey was retired she used to go over before me every summer. One year she rang me up and asked me to bring over a driver's door mirror. A hailstone had bounced off the drivers window and smashed her mirror.
The damage to cars in the area was so severe that the insurance companies appealed to the government to categorise it as a regional disaster, so they could claim the money back of the govt! Still see cars with dinged roofs!

Good grief! Glad we don't get that, the tornados are bad enough. One bent a brand new France Telecom metal telephone post in half, luckily its full force missed our house.

The Vent d'Autan is a big noise but usually OK although some near neighbours did lose a few roof tiles once. The hailstones arrive about once a year but they are not normally quite that big.
But I would hate tornados cos, as you exemplify, they are not too bad unless you are right in their path in which case, Lord help you.

Back to the topic.
2 things
1/
I have ordered all the ball joints but am now concerned about the axle tube seals.
Previously I have only taken out rear half-shafts and seals were just not an issue.
But with these things on the front there seem to be a lot of issues. To do with getting them to fit correctly, i.e. manufacturing inaccuracies, which way round (??!!) should be obvious but there you go.
So i have yet to order them and am wondering what peeps think?
Also, if it is possible to actually change the ball joints with the half-shafts etc still in place, i.e. separating the hub from the shaft which I have done before although I would rather not.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Can't remember what Rave said so I'll have another look meanwhile.
2/
The special kit to remove the ball joints. Manomano do do them but I cannot tell whether the cheaper one has the correct sized spacers etc. It would be a shame to buy the kit just to do this one job and then find I have wasted my money and will have to send it back.
I could get to the point of getting the ball joints off then measure them up but if I can get the correct kit in the UK at the right price it would be easier.
All the threads I have looked at give part numbers and links to places like the Bay which no longer open or are "out of stock" so a bit stuck here.
Again, hope someone with a pair of callipers or a bit more knowledge can help me out.

Seems like what looks like a simple job is going to be more complex than I thought. but then this has so often been the case on this vehicle.
As if they designed it thus on purpose!
SIGH!
SIGH!

Stanleysteamer said:

Back to the topic.
2 things
1/
I have ordered all the ball joints but am now concerned about the axle tube seals.
Previously I have only taken out rear half-shafts and seals were just not an issue.
But with these things on the front there seem to be a lot of issues. To do with getting them to fit correctly, i.e. manufacturing inaccuracies, which way round (??!!) should be obvious but there you go.
So i have yet to order them and am wondering what peeps think?
Also, if it is possible to actually change the ball joints with the half-shafts etc still in place, i.e. separating the hub from the shaft which I have done before although I would rather not.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Can't remember what Rave said so I'll have another look meanwhile.
2/
The special kit to remove the ball joints. Manomano do do them but I cannot tell whether the cheaper one has the correct sized spacers etc. It would be a shame to buy the kit just to do this one job and then find I have wasted my money and will have to send it back.
I could get to the point of getting the ball joints off then measure them up but if I can get the correct kit in the UK at the right price it would be easier.
All the threads I have looked at give part numbers and links to places like the Bay which no longer open or are "out of stock" so a bit stuck here.
Again, hope someone with a pair of callipers or a bit more knowledge can help me out.

Seems like what looks like a simple job is going to be more complex than I thought. but then this has so often been the case on this vehicle.
As if they designed it thus on purpose!
SIGH!
SIGH!

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Hello Stanley

If I can do it, and you can do that starter motor, don't worry!

I replaced the axle seals, a really easy job, just lever out the old ones, clean the faces and tap in the new. I ordered 3 (in case I bu****ed one which I didn't) FTC4822. Just be careful not to damage the seal when feeding the driveshaft back in. Easier on the offside as the shaft is shorter. I'm sure you couldn't do it with the half shafts in place.

I bought this kit from Amazon Amazon product

It's gone up a bit since I bought it and most of the bits I didn't use, but it was better than you haven't got that one vital spacer! I'm sure there are many similar.

PP

PP you are being a real help!
Re the kit, it is pricier than some I've seen, but then buying something you can't use is money wasted anyway.
I take it you didn;t even consider trying to replace the half-shafts without changing the seals?
Thanks for the tip re not being able to do it with the shafts in place.

Stanleysteamer said:

PP you are being a real help!
Re the kit, it is pricier than some I've seen, but then buying something you can't use is money wasted anyway.
I take it you didn;t even consider trying to replace the half-shafts without changing the seals?
Thanks for the tip re not being able to do it with the shafts in place.

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Pleased to help. I paid £56 for the kit back in July (£75 was a bit of a surprise!), but being stuck in France would have cost more!

Even though I didn't think the seals were leaking (they weren't), as the truck had done >140k miles I thought it best to change them anyway. Thinking about it since my last reply, not only would the CV joints be in the way, the weight of the shaft and CV joint at the wheel end would be on the seal as there no support in the axle at that end (difficult to explain, but you'll see what I mean when you get it apart) which I'm sure would damage the seal. I either used one of the bits in the kit or a socket to tap the new seals in. Same as any other oil seal really. I didn't need to drain the axle, JM mentioned you may get one or 2 drips.

Cheers.

PP

PopPops said:

Pleased to help. I paid £56 for the kit back in July (£75 was a bit of a surprise!), but being stuck in France would have cost more!

Even though I didn't think the seals were leaking (they weren't), as the truck had done >140k miles I thought it best to change them anyway. Thinking about it since my last reply, not only would the CV joints be in the way, the weight of the shaft and CV joint at the wheel end would be on the seal as there no support in the axle at that end (difficult to explain, but you'll see what I mean when you get it apart) which I'm sure would damage the seal. I either used one of the bits in the kit or a socket to tap the new seals in. Same as any other oil seal really. I didn't need to drain the axle, JM mentioned you may get one or 2 drips.

Cheers.

PP

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I am awaiting delivery of the new ball joints and being thick, it only dawned on me this morning that once I have them I'll be able to work out the diameter of spacers needed to push them in and pull them out! so that I can buy the right tool. DOH!
Still making my mind up about the seals. they won't be expensive but i have read of others having nightmares getting them out and that happened to me, but admittedly only once.

Stanleysteamer said:

I am awaiting delivery of the new ball joints and being thick, it only dawned on me this morning that once I have them I'll be able to work out the diameter of spacers needed to push them in and pull them out! so that I can buy the right tool. DOH!
Still making my mind up about the seals. they won't be expensive but i have read of others having nightmares getting them out and that happened to me, but admittedly only once.

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Good point!

I used a claw hammer to lever out the axle seals, it was just the right size and didn't damage anything. They popped out easily. Maybe I was lucky.

PP

Right, new ball joints arrived today and whoopee they came with nuts! Also yesterday went to a local and usually pricey LR garage, (only do work on em, don't flog em) and after chatting for a long time to the guys behind the parts counter the guy said, "you seem to know plenty about cars so I'll put you on the computer as "Trade" ". I then paid for the two axle seals and the centrifugal filter I had had in my hand for the whole conversation! Was worth it!
Now I can measure the bits of the ball joints I will need to apply pressure to and then order the kit! Great!

Stanleysteamer said:

Right, new ball joints arrived today and whoopee they came with nuts! Also yesterday went to a local and usually pricey LR garage, (only do work on em, don't flog em) and after chatting for a long time to the guys behind the parts counter the guy said, "you seem to know plenty about cars so I'll put you on the computer as "Trade" ". I then paid for the two axle seals and the centrifugal filter I had had in my hand for the whole conversation! Was worth it!
Now I can measure the bits of the ball joints I will need to apply pressure to and then order the kit! Great!

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That's all good news! I wonder why some ball joints come with nuts and others don't? The Lemforders I bought don't. Just another mystery.

PP

PopPops said:

That's all good news! I wonder why some ball joints come with nuts and others don't? The Lemforders I bought don't. Just another mystery.

PP

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And miserably one of the parts guys said "if you haven't got Lemforders you'll be doing the job again in 6 months". Doubt it, I don't take it off road (much) any more!
I notice one pair of the two come with a plastic sort of sheath thing covering the boot and threaded part of the joint. I am assuming there is a reason for this, like to protect something but I expect I'll find out once I get startrd on it.
We are looking at departing for France as soon as we can now, before all ports get closed! Still got to get the tool but I've done all the measuring so hope I can find it with a bit more confidence.

Stanleysteamer said:

And miserably one of the parts guys said "if you haven't got Lemforders you'll be doing the job again in 6 months". Doubt it, I don't take it off road (much) any more!
I notice one pair of the two come with a plastic sort of sheath thing covering the boot and threaded part of the joint. I am assuming there is a reason for this, like to protect something but I expect I'll find out once I get startrd on it.
We are looking at departing for France as soon as we can now, before all ports get closed! Still got to get the tool but I've done all the measuring so hope I can find it with a bit more confidence.

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I assumed the cover was to protect it all in transit. I also left them in place when pressing the new ones in in case the tool slipped (it didn't). I've only owned a Land Rover for 15 months, so when JM suggested Lemforder I wasn't going to argue!!

Good luck getting over the channel, we are stuck here at present for family reasons.

PP

PopPops said:

I assumed the cover was to protect it all in transit. I also left them in place when pressing the new ones in in case the tool slipped (it didn't). I've only owned a Land Rover for 15 months, so when JM suggested Lemforder I wasn't going to argue!!

Good luck getting over the channel, we are stuck here at present for family reasons.

PP

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I never saw the JM thing about Lemforder or I'd have done that. Shucks!
Sounds like you'd like to pop over to Frenchland too.
If you are reading the Coronavirus thread you'll see my list of reasons why we want to get over there and in fact are hoping to bring our departure forward.
We've had our TD5 since 2014, but I have never done so mauch work on it as this year apart from the time I had to take the exhaust manifold off, get it skimmed and then mess about with studs etc to get it back on. If you haven't done this yet, and I am unwilling to suggest you do work, but it would be a good thing to take it off, check it for warping and even if it hasn't warped, cut through each web and then put it back and keep an eye on it. So many peeps have problems with studs that have been ripped out. I did and was lucky to not have to do too much work. But there was a thread on here recently where a chap had an absolute nightmare with it.

Stanleysteamer said:

I never saw the JM thing about Lemforder or I'd have done that. Shucks!
Sounds like you'd like to pop over to Frenchland too.
If you are reading the Coronavirus thread you'll see my list of reasons why we want to get over there and in fact are hoping to bring our departure forward.
We've had our TD5 since 2014, but I have never done so mauch work on it as this year apart from the time I had to take the exhaust manifold off, get it skimmed and then mess about with studs etc to get it back on. If you haven't done this yet, and I am unwilling to suggest you do work, but it would be a good thing to take it off, check it for warping and even if it hasn't warped, cut through each web and then put it back and keep an eye on it. So many peeps have problems with studs that have been ripped out. I did and was lucky to not have to do too much work. But there was a thread on here recently where a chap had an absolute nightmare with it.

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JM suggested in a thread to use Lemforder when asked (not by me), so I remembered it.

We have a place in the Charente, but an ill family member stops us returning at present.

About 6 weeks after getting the D2 the squealing manifold started, so that was the first real job. Both studs on # 1 were snapped and one on #5 had pulled and damaged the thread in the head. To keep the story short I helicoiled #1 and #5 and had the manifold skimmed. It took about 2 hours per broken stud to remove them. I made a drilling jig to help. I argued with myself for a long time whether to de-web the manifold but eventually decided not to de-web for "material science" reasons, but did enlarge the holes on 1,2, 4 & 5. I used Wurth studs and that was 10k miles ago. Not a nightmare, but there are easier jobs!!

PP

PopPops said:

JM suggested in a thread to use Lemforder when asked (not by me), so I remembered it.

We have a place in the Charente, but an ill family member stops us returning at present.

About 6 weeks after getting the D2 the squealing manifold started, so that was the first real job. Both studs on # 1 were snapped and one on #5 had pulled and damaged the thread in the head. To keep the story short I helicoiled #1 and #5 and had the manifold skimmed. It took about 2 hours per broken stud to remove them. I made a drilling jig to help. I argued with myself for a long time whether to de-web the manifold but eventually decided not to de-web for "material science" reasons, but did enlarge the holes on 1,2, 4 & 5. I used Wurth studs and that was 10k miles ago. Not a nightmare, but there are easier jobs!!

PP

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Right. So my advice came a year or two too late! Sorry about that! I also enlarged the holes but didn't cut the webs cos, a/couldn't be bothered and b/ felt that once the manifold had warped it wern't gonna do it again. Perhaps that was your "material science reason". (No need to de-web them, just cutting them removes the chance of transmitting the strain) But I had similar problems to you as regards studs on both ends. Stupid design error, well done Land Rover!
Sorry to hear about your family member's problem. Hope he/she recovers.