Problems removing rear A Frame Ball Joint

Hi all, I posted a while back when I was about to buy my first Defender.

I went ahead and bought it, it's a 1996 300tdi Defender 90 and have tinkered with it almost every day since. Today's job is the rear A Frame ball joint but it's proving to be a bit difficult.

I've manage to free up most of the bolts with a big hammer. The problem I'm having now is that the ball joint thread is turning whilst I'm trying to undo the 30mm nut which secures it to the axle.

Any suggestions how to stop the ball joint from turning so that I can remove the nut?

Glyn D said:

Hi all, I posted a while back when I was about to buy my first Defender.

I went ahead and bought it, it's a 1996 300tdi Defender 90 and have tinkered with it almost every day since. Today's job is the rear A Frame ball joint but it's proving to be a bit difficult.

I've manage to free up most of the bolts with a big hammer. The problem I'm having now is that the ball joint thread is turning whilst I'm trying to undo the 30mm nut which secures it to the axle.

Any suggestions how to stop the ball joint from turning so that I can remove the nut?

Click to expand...

Using a big piece of wood, lever on the top of the ball joint to push the taper down tight in the axle, then undo the nut.

It is on a taper so pressure on top should hold it while you undo the nut.

Thanks guys. Following your advice, I ended up using a length of mild steel box section and a farm jack to apply the leverage. The back of the car was off the ground before there was enough pressure to hold it. All done now

Glyn D said:

Thanks guys. Following your advice, I ended up using a length of mild steel box section and a farm jack to apply the leverage. The back of the car was off the ground before there was enough pressure to hold it. All done now

Click to expand...

Good. The reason I suggested using wood was that it gets more friction on the joint, so you don't have to push so hard.

Good,sorted.

Another question...

Before I start trying to weld together some kind of jig, do you think an 8 ton bottle jack will be enough to remove the ball joint from the bracket?

Just so that we're on the same page, I'm trying to press part 12 out of part 16:

Not to worry, this answered my question:

Glyn D said:

Another question...

Before I start trying to weld together some kind of jig, do you think an 8 ton bottle jack will be enough to remove the ball joint from the bracket?

Just so that we're on the same page, I'm trying to press part 12 out of part 16:

Click to expand...

Probably not. The only way I can remove them is to put the holder in a blacksmith's vice, heat it red hot with a welding torch, and beat it out with a 10 pound sledge.
To save hassle, it is possible to buy them pre-assembled in the holder.

The Jig worked, although it took a long bar for added leverage in the jack, and a second person holding the jig.



Need to get the new ball joint in now...

I have managed to get mine out with a big hammer and lots of swearing. But for the diferance in price it is definitly worth just buying the whole unit already fitted together. Rather than trying to remove the old one!

I just changed mine on Thursday. I replaced the complete unit. 20 minute job from start to finish with the windy gun. It winds the nut off so quickly that the taper doesn't get a chance to spin.

Here's mine:
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/springs-and-things.239690/
The nut wouldn't come off so I drilled a couple of little holes in it so it could be broken up with a chisel. Somewhere towards the end of that thread is a picture of me putting 25 tons of pressure on the ball joint to get it out of its bracket, At that kind of pressure, the bracket bends anyway. Fortunately I bought a new bracket and ball assembly so didn't need the old one. That's around the weight of 3 JCB backhoe shovels, to put it in perspective. I understand they're a little over 8 tons each.