front hub lower ball joint threads abit farked

[Sir_vtec]

Ok heres my situation,

The previous idiot (farken dickhead) who took off the 4x114.3 (drivers side front hubs) ruined the threads on the lower ball joint that connects to the lower arm. Now the castle nut cant get on properly otherwise when i twist the castle nut it turns the whole ball joint and refuses to screw in.

Now what are my options?

Am i able to swap over my old ones off and change that to the 4x114.3 front hub?

Or is that the end of that front hub knuck. Its pissing me off.

Is there any chance i can use a realy thin disc to angle grind the threads back?

Regards ken.

[vinnY]

you could probably change out the ball joint if you knew how to

get a pic of it and maybe we can let you know if it's salvageable or not

[Sir_vtec]

Thanks to a dead camera battery i couldnt get a pic today.

Yeh i ll get a pic up asap.

So whats required to change the ball joint?

Btw does the hub have to be tapered back into the lower control arm or is it tapered once i put the castle nut on and drive the car and the joints lock themselves in?

[vinnY]

yeah you should be able to just torque it up and put the split pin through and that should be it

pm me your msn or something and i'll send you a pdf to change the ball joint

[Sir_vtec]

well as far as i know it's only a circlip and you whack out the joint
heard you need a press to get it back in though haven't done it personally and hope i don't need to soon hehe

do you mean you can only get half the threads on the NUT on before it gets tough?
might just mean your castle nut has been dented in a bit, try to pry it apart a bit and go again

regards,

vin


Yeh i knew i would need a press :( Because its such a important component to hold the whole brakes together.

I can only get half the castle nut onto the threads. such a pain! I ll prob attempt to separate the ball joint from the hub to make life easier :(

[Paul1985]

Press = Fail!!

Listen to me on this one as i went through this same B/S about 3 weeks ago.

Supposedly ball joints start to spin when tightening them up as they get older.
If you lever on the arm to force it tight it is supposedly possible to tighten it up.

I decided to just throw 2 new ones in and have a workmate who owns a hydraulic press, press them in for me.

The OEM ball joints cost me around $80 for 2 of them.
With the knuckle in a vice, I hammered the old ones out, they took a massive amount of force to get them out.

We had heaps of different fittings for the press to try and get it to work and fooled around with it for about 2 hours, unsuccessfully being able to get it set up in the press correctly. The Upper part of the knuckle gets in the way of being able to press it in straight.

I was lucky enough that at work we made up a fitting on the lathe that was a perfect fit for the edge around the ball joint (you want to avoid pressing on the centre of the joint, there is a small edge around it you use for pressing it in). We ended up hammering them in with me holding the knuckle in a bench vice and my workmate hammering the joint evenly. We took our time not to hit too hard and get the joint in without damaging it.. It all went fine apart from me splitting one of the boots by slipping when it was in the vice and slit it open.

It's a hell of a job to try press the ball joints in.. We were fooling around for so damn long unsuccessfully. As i said, they arent cheap either.

With the threads.. DO NOT use and angle grinder.. You can buy mini-files that look like a nail file. They work WONDERS on cleaning up threads, i use them all the time at work. Try a few tool stores for them.

[Paul1985]

BTW, they are in there tight as ^%&*
I thought id be able to use something simple like a g-clamp. Wasnt as simple as that.

A workshop would be able to make up a fitting for hammering in the ball joint the same way in which i did, surely they wouldnt charge that much to make it and you could DIY the same way i did if you really wanted to. Or just pay a workshop to mess around (they would prob end up doing the same as we did anyway.

[vinnY]

well i did only say i heard :p

i just checked the diy i have here and it appears they actually have a special driver attachment to get the bastard in and out

[Paul1985]

I just re-read your initial post and swapping the hubs over may very well be a viable option. Most likely less expensive than new ball joints...

I'm not sure on if their are any differences though. It would again need pressing off though and you would no doubt need new wheel bearings if you do this. These will be another cost aswell....

After all that, are you sure your old knuckles ball-joints are in good condition??
If you pay for the hubs to be pressed off and new bearings just to goto install the knuckle to realise your joints are spinning aswell.... You will be pissed. I do these kind of things all the time by trying to take the cheaper way, just to end up being a more expensive way. lol

[Sir_vtec]

I ve notice some of the americans used a thread restorer filer in 12x1.25 to go with a new castle nut and it works a treat.

Im gonna attempt that. See how it goes. If no success, i ll get the ball joint pressed out.

Thanks paul :thumbsup:

[Paul1985]

well i did only say i heard :p

i just checked the diy i have here and it appears they actually have a special driver attachment to get the bastard in and out

I was tempted to buy one of the honda specialised ball joint presses from the states... Im not too sure how well one of them would work. It definately take some force to get it in and out.. You would need a breaker bar to install it i would imagine.

Your axles also get in the way and need to be removed if using one of these tools.

This is what the ball-joint presses look like:
http://www.ntxtools.com/Merchant/graphics/00000001/otc-7249.gif

The one i was looking at was a little over $100 USD, then would be shipping etc ontop of that. I was tempted to make one with a g-clamp.

[Paul1985]

I ve notice some of the americans used a thread restorer filer in 12x1.25 to go with a new castle nut and it works a treat.

Im gonna attempt that. See how it goes. If no success, i ll get the ball joint pressed out.

Thanks paul :thumbsup:

Depending how bad it is, you could run a die (from a tap and die set) over it.
But those files do work great. Quick and easy.

[JasonGilholme]

i'd definately try to rethread the ball joint thats there if you can. even if you **** it you're still in the same position you're in now. Might as well give it a shot.

[Sir_vtec]

Any auto stores i could find a tap and a die set?

have u got any links for the tap and die paul?

I ve got a link from those americans using this filer to rethread the ball joint thread?
Now how the hell can u use one of the to file it out? :confused:
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?item_ID=9693&group_ID=1149

[Paul1985]

Ahhh one of those files.
They have one in the laithe room at work.. I usually use a very small file that fits into the thread and manually go around the damaged area. As i said it looks like a small nail file only slightly triangulated so you can really get into the small areas of the thread.

Anyway, heres how that file works. Sorry for shit pic, im not good with paint lol.
You simply mate the two together as the gap is suited perfectly for the thread (if you get the correct thread pitch on the file, they can have different thread pitches on each 4 sides for 4 different threads).

From there you use it exactly you would a file doing it with strokes to clean the thread. Its easiest if you have the bolt head tightened in a vice IMO.

Hope this helps.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/Paul_K_1985/file.jpg

[Eclipsor]

I've used a die with success before. You probably won't be able to get the proper handles on it that stick out the side because there won't be room to turn. But with alot of swearing and a couple of pairs of vice grips (1 to stop it spinning, 1 to turn the die) it can be done.

Then to stop it turning while you put the nut back on I've used a G clamp. Once again it is tricky getting it tight enough because you can't really get a good flat surface but it can be done. You clamp the lower control arm onto the ball joint. The pressure on the taper stops it turning.

Trade tools would be a cheap place to get a tap and die set. Or you should be able to just get the right size that you need.

[Paul1985]

Thats a great idea with the clamp to stop it turning Eclipsor. I never thought of that one :thumbsup:

[Sir_vtec]

Today has been successful, i went to bunnings and got a really fine bastard to rethread the ball joint threads. Took me only 30 mins to retrace the original threads and with the help of a castle nut in good condition from the wreckers, it was done. No need to press out the shagged ball joint. Now i only need to complete the rear disc brake and im finished! wooooo

Thanks for the advice guys

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6324/img0837nc4.jpg
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6619/img0833vc2.jpg

[vinnY]

bah get the rear on already :p

[Sir_vtec]

couldnt have done it without some of ur advices vin! :thumbsup:

Yeh rears will be on soon with ITR brake booster and mc.

[vinnY]

i don't envy you removing and installing the new brake booster and master cylinder :p

[Sir_vtec]

Dw i ll donate u my old brake booster and mc :P

Vin, i have another question.

how do i remove the brake line from the clip after i undo the hard line from the brake line.

I couldnt work it out so i just used the old brake line from my smaller brakes.

[vinnY]

get a pair of plyers
get one face on the chassis bracket and one on the clip's lip and squeeze
the bracket should come loose and you should be able to yank it out

[Sir_vtec]

Thanks will tackle it tmr.

[JasonGilholme]

yeah that clip thing is just pressure set. rip/bang it out of place :thumbsup:

DIY FTW :thumbsup:

[Benson]

Remove the rubber boot around the ball joint. Use a hammer and hit where the old boot use to go. The ball joint should slowly come out. Carefully hit the new one in with the hammer. Some hubs comes with the slip pin which needs to be remove.