Ball Joint install help, please!
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 25
Likes: 1
From: Dallas, TX
Ball Joint install help, please!
Long story short, I'm an amateur in the latter stages of replacing my lower control arm rear bushings. Been a pain but that will be covered in my final write up.
I'm trying to reinstall the ball joints and I'm stuck. I separated them with a pittman puller and was under the impression that they would "snap" back together, kind of the opposite of when they "snapped" apart, when I screwed the castle nut back on. I've torqued the castle nut to and a bit beyond the recommended 119 ft lbs and there is no sign of it snapping back together.
You can see in the pic the space that should be snapped together.
All together now... "you're doing it wrong".
Thoughts anyone?
I'm trying to reinstall the ball joints and I'm stuck. I separated them with a pittman puller and was under the impression that they would "snap" back together, kind of the opposite of when they "snapped" apart, when I screwed the castle nut back on. I've torqued the castle nut to and a bit beyond the recommended 119 ft lbs and there is no sign of it snapping back together.
You can see in the pic the space that should be snapped together.
All together now... "you're doing it wrong".
Thoughts anyone?
The only ones I've had apart on the LS are the upper A-arm ball joints. Those are taper-fit, and while they "snap" apart when they release, there's no snap when you reassemble them -- they just fit smoothly together when you torque them down. I'm not sure if the others on the LS are the same or not.... Can you tell for sure that they're not back in their proper position once you've tightened them down? If so, I'd take them back apart and look for a shoulder or spline or something that needs to be aligned to make them fit together.
Last edited by I6turbo; Dec 10, 2009 at 11:18 AM.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 25
Likes: 1
From: Dallas, TX
While there is no spline, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I must not have it lined up well. When it would not go in I just decided to take the nut off and wait 'till another day when I had some more info. I usually screw things up when I try to force the issue.
Guess I'll go rent the &#@ puller again to get it apart and see what trouble I've caused.
Thx for the suggestion I6turbo!
Guess I'll go rent the &#@ puller again to get it apart and see what trouble I've caused.
Thx for the suggestion I6turbo!
Have you tried taking it back loose without the puller? If it's not lined up somehow or something, it might not be hard to get apart. You might try turning the castle nut over, screwing it on until the bottom (now top) of the nut is flush with the end of the stud, than tapping it with a hammer (not too hard -- don't mess up anything else). It really seems weird that there are no splines, shoulder, or anything, yet it isn't going into place...
Your first mistake was buying a Lexus. You'd be better off driving around in a 1979 Ford Pinto.
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