Disco 2 Discovery 2 (Facelift) Ball Joint Dust Cover

Good afternoon all,

I have been informed by my MOT tester than my front lower ball joint dust covers are corroded and therefore need replacing.

I have spoken to the MOT tester and he politely suggested that I should actually just change the dust covers rather than doing the whole ball joints because he said there is very little play and they don't need doing.

Well, after a bit of internet searching, I have found that the only way to replace the dust covers is to take off: Wheel, caliper, disc, hub and driveshaft to be able to knock the ball joints out, however in doing this, it is likely that I am going to damage the ball joint in doing this, therefore I might as well just do the ball joints by the time I have done this much!

I have done some further internet searching and found that there are some 'gluable' versions of dust covers, however it doesn't seem as though there are any that fit the D2?

Any ideas from anyone? Or do I need to do this one properly?

Thanks
RJD121

I have same problem and have opted to bite the bullet, have bought the tools of Wish website, and the four balljoints, and the two bearings.
Will do it when i get a mo, which won't be soon!

Stanleysteamer said:

I have same problem and have opted to bite the bullet, have bought the tools of Wish website, and the four balljoints, and the two bearings.
Will do it when i get a mo, which won't be soon!

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That will be a good workout.

Cheers

neilly said:

That will be a good workout.

Cheers

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Which is why I am putting it off probably until I am back in the UK where I'll have all my best tools around me and access to stuff I won't have over here. AND it'll be cooler!

All I can say is invest in a proper impact gun, ball joint kit, propane gas torch and a week prior, soak the h3ll out of the ball joint areas with PB Blaster or your choice of liquid penetrant.
Mine were a PITA to replace.

What ^ he said, they're a bit of a bugger to get out even with the right tools, no way I'd refit a removed pair - just replace them and make sure you use lemforder ones.

yes a bit of a pig to do, the top of mine had mushroomed so no way it was going to push out, so I ground it down with a 4.5" hand grinder untill it was level with the axle and nice and smooth, the pushed it out

All that said, you don't need to push them out to replace the boots, just break the taper on the steering knuckle...

yes Bennehboy I agree with that you could just do that.....but if you have done more 75% of the replacement job, it sods law you will be doing it all again soon to finish it off 100%, when one fails the next test,

Bennehboy said:

All that said, you don't need to push them out to replace the boots, just break the taper on the steering knuckle...

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Good luck taking off the steering knuckle without damage to the ball joints. Maybe it's possible but I did a few myself and always ended up using an angle grinder.

NPG said:

Good luck taking off the steering knuckle without damage to the ball joints. Maybe it's possible but I did a few myself and always ended up using an angle grinder.

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Yeah I think it really would be pot luck - I've always managed to crack the tapers with 2 hammers, but I've only done it 4 times.