Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I've never used flex seal, but I wouldn't be comfortable mixing in something with the ball joint grease and possibly contaminating it. Plus once the flex seal hardens it might jams the ball joint or create excess friction and prematurely wear out the ball joint.

A pitman arm puller is the prefer method to remove the ball joint. The pickle fork will always tear the boots. A last resort would be to thread the nut on to the tip of the ball joint (with no threads exposed) and hit that with a hammer.

For the front, an easier way is to use a 14mm universal joint socket and undo the shock mount bracket from the LCA. Once the bracket slides out of the way, then getting the shock out is easy. There will be no need to remove the UCA if you remove the shock mount bracket.

tzxlyd

Blkexcoupe,
I tried to use the pitman puller but I could not get it on there -- the opening was too small to get it behind the ball joint so I used the separator as a last resort -- at least so I thought until I realized there was a better approach. Now at some point soon I need to get it off so that I can replace that boot -- I will try to find a bigger puller than the one I have and hopefully that will work to get the boot replaced.

I will look at the passenger front (still have to do that strut plus replace that LCA -- installed polyurethane bushings but too much noise going back to OEM LCA) to see if I can understand what you are saying about removing the shock mount bracket so I do not have to remove the UCA. I don't want to remove that UCA if I do not have to because of my concern that the bushings can be damaged -- at least I read that in one of the posts at this link https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...-92-sc400.html

"its tricky if you have never done it as you have to mess with re-installing the upper and doing the final torque when the car is back down on the ground, as in you tighten it enough to be safe to put it back on the ground, but not so much that the bushings can't turn, and then after its on the ground settle the suspension some give it a nice few shakes and then do the final 121 ft-lbs torque. Do not over torque or under torque. If you torque the uppers with the car in the air, they will be locked in there and later when it goes to settle it will max out these bushings possibly resulting in failure worst case scenario or best case scenario the bushings end up turning enough before giving out."

The quoted text made me nervous so I have not torqued any of the struts or other bolts to spec yet and I have not moved the car -- I wanted to make sure I fully understood the warning about the torque specs from that post before driving the car. I still need to stabilize all of the struts -- I thought I could just do them all at the same time to ensure I have everything with the proper specs. Is that quoted text completely accurate about damaging the UCA bushings?

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

If you're going to swap the LCA, then just disconnect the LCA ball joint from the knuckle and swing the arm out of the way. You should be able to take the shock out without removing the UCA if the LCA is disconnected.

The quoted text is accurate, but the reality is that torquing all the bolts to spec while the car is loaded is incredibly difficult. It'll require an alignment rack or a 4 post lift, but even with a lift you'll have trouble accessing the bolts.

The best alternative is to connect everything, then use a floor jack and lift the LCA, so that the entire suspension is loaded. You can tell when its loaded because the arms will stop moving and the car will start lifting up from your jack stands. Once all that is setup, then you can use a torque wrench and finalize everything. For the sway bar endlinks, it would be ideal to torque them to spec when both sides are loaded equally.

tzxlyd

Blkexcoupe,
I wanted to once again express my appreciation for all of your assistance. I was able to get everything done with the struts, rotors, brake pads and replace the right (passenger) LCA. As you stated getting to the strut on the right was easy once I removed the LCA so I did not have to remove the UCA bolt -- I think it took about 5 minutes to replace that strut after removing the LCA.

So far everything feels good with the ride of the car so I have to tackle another major problem -- check engine light has been on for years and my odometer does not work -- I have replaced the O2 sensor several times because that is the code associated with it and I have replaced the VSS thinking that would fix the odometer failure with no luck. I thought the check engine and odometer were related so I hoped the Vehicle Speed Sensor replacement would fix both problems but perhaps they are not related at all.

Again thank you and everyone else who gave me advice on this thread -- it was all very helpful.

lextout

btw just for future reference in the future its best to disassemble the strut from the car and pay a shop to comress the shock in and out of the spring, more safe.