Hey guys, I just finished the Youzealand SS Pro Kit install for the front of the car....When I was looking for a thread like this, I came up short, so hopefully it helps someone like me!

This should also work pretty much the same for an oem/aftermarket lower ball joint install.

My wheel offset in the rear is keeping me from installing the rear part of the kit. If/when the wheels change and I lower the rear, I will add a DIY for the rear!

There are probably other ways of doing this...this is just my way of doing it, and it worked for me....use at your own risk! This was on an 04-06 LS430, although I would think the 01-03 would be the same or similar.

I'd rate this a 5-6 out of 10 on a scale of difficulty. It isn't that bad, but since there are balljoints to remove and cutting involved, I took my time and got it all done in about 2hrs or so.



1)

Start off with jacking up the car, removing the wheel, and supporting the car via jackstand etc.

2)



I started by removing these two 19mm bolts holding the caliper on. Once removed, I supported it by resting it on a bucket...bungee cords could work here as well etc. Rotor just slides off after the caliper is removed...get it out of your way to make things easier to maneuver. Should look like this :



3)



There are 3 17mm nuts and bolts on the bottom. Remove the cotter pin from the tie rod with needle nose pliars or similar, then remove the nut to the balljoint and the two bolts on the bottom. Swing the arm out of the way when the bottom bolts are removed, so that you can access the main ball joint easily. It will look like this :



4)



Time to remove the balljoints...I rented a ball joint remover from Autozone to get the job done right and free! Just remove the cotter pin from the lower ball joint like you did with the tie rod, and remove the 19mm nut.

If you have never used one before, it is fairly simple. Just line it up, and twist the pin down directly into the balljoint. If you are doing the lower balljoint, put a foot or knee under the ball joint so that it doesn't pop straight down to the ground. I removed the tie rod end and then the lower ball joint.

5)



Here is the new lower ball joint. I greased it up as well as the tie rod end before I secured it.

I secured the main ball joint, but left the tie rod end loose, just with the nut hand tightened slightly, so that I had a little play to maneuver the arm so that the bolts would line up properly.

6)

Here is a step that you can skip if you are not running the Youzealand SS Kit or similar....and seems like some have had luck without cutting even with the SS Kit, although I was NOT lucky and my dust cover rubbed all to hell with the rotor with the wheel on.

I am sure you can cut less than what I did, but I decided to just cut everything that looked like it could have been the culprit....and it did solve my problem.



I bought these tin snips from Lowes for about $8....made the job a cake walk.

I cut a few lines straight in, so that I knew how much I wanted to cut, and then just cut the squares out leaving me with the end result of this :



I forgot to take a pic of the same side, but use your imagination....looked the same, just mirrored on the other side lol.

7)

Once the cutting is done, line up the arm with the two lower 24mm bolts (17mm bolts if replacing with OEM again), secure them and the tie rod nut, replace cotter pin.

8)

Replace the rotor and caliper, make sure the rotor is not dirty...otherwise brake clean. Secure the two 19mm bolts, and put the wheel back on...you're done!




Now she is sitting pretty





Anyways, hope this helped someone out there! Good luck!

 

Thanks for the write up! I'm considering getting the Youzealand kit and this DIY will come in handy.

 

Nice writeup...I didn't take the caliper/rotor off myself if I remember correctly.

 

Nice write up this will come in handy in the future! thumbs up bro keep up the good work to!!

 

Yeah, the caliper and rotor wouldnt need to come off if you don't cut the dust cover.

 

Is the ball joint mount that is supplied with this kit any different than our stock ball joint mounts?

 

They should look similar, minus the spacers obviously. The same work should be involved

 

I understand, im basicly asking if the mount supplied with the kit is any different than stock. (ex. Different ball joint angles)

 

good write up with pics..hopefully will be doing this soon.

 

Im fabricating a front kit for my car. Let me know if your interested

 

have you installed the rears?

 

not to thread jack but anyone running a nagisa drop/camber block?!?

 

The mounting points are offset to account for the change in geometry when utilizing the block spacers.

 

i was just trying to find some installation info for the SS kit and found it, but it is all in japanese. the pics still really help though.

http://www.youzealand.net/parts/ss/install/

フロント = Front
リア - Rear

 

I'm getting mentally prepared to install this kit, unfortunately the pictures are gone, can anyone tell me where was C8V6C cutting the dust shield? Front/rear even? Anyone has pictures of a cut shield or can explain approximaterly what to cut?