IRD Driveshaft and Hub problems

Hello everyone, my IRD recently went on my 1999 freelander and after a lot of messing around i have finally managed to get a new one and fit it, Im not a mechanic im a commercial tyre fitter so i have basic knowledge when it comes to cars, So the new ird has gone in no problems, offside drive shaft has been refitted to the hub but as i was doing up the two bolts that hold the hub on i noticed that the bolt on the bottom of the hub that attaches it to the suspension seemed to have come loose, no problems i thought and grabbing a 22mm socket tried to do it up, it just seems to spin the bolt and the thread and not get tighter or looser? does anyone know what has happened here? do i need some sort of special tool to tighten it? will the suspension collapse if i just put it back together, im at the final hurdle and im stumped, i just need to sort this, rebuild the brakes and put oil in the IRD and I can get my freelander back on the road, any help would be greatly :welcome2:

bottom ball joint i presume you mean ,put jack under joint and put some pressure on it its a taper joint and wont hold unless fully home,its the only one you need to remove to remove drive shaft

Yeah bottom ball joint that connects to the wishbone, so does it have to have pressure put on it from underneath to stop it spinning, I looked on eBay and a new part is only £13, is it easily replaced, I see there would be some rivet drilling involved but a have compressor and all the necessary tools to do it.

unless its worn just push it up with jack ,then you can tighten nut, grind heads off and punch out rivets comes with new bolts to refasten,no special tools needed

Yep as said above use a jack to apply pressure to the bottom of the ball joint, somtimes it takes a fair bit to stop it spinning but it will tighten down in the end........remember use a new nut or threadlock.