Had to remove these today to get some really tough bottom ball joints back in, finally completed the first task, only when it came to tightening the nuts back up, the whole stud just spins round, this is the same for both sides


Is this a job that just has to be done using air tools??


2001 Clio btw

 

hia no need for air tools all you need is a couple of axle stands? put one under the balljoint of the trackrod end and then lower the car until the balljoint is sitting on the axle stand, with the weight on it they should just do up,thats if the nut is on top. if the nut is underneath get a long bar wedge it in somewhere (make sure its safe and not going to slip out) them get a mate to put there weight on it and it will tighten up.

 

best thing to do is jack the wishbones up forcing them tighter onto the ball joints. this normally stops them spinning.

 

Thanks for your reply, yeah the nut is at the top, however the bottom of where the stud is has no moving/turning parts showing, it is a sealed unit.

 

yep so jack the wishbones up forcing the ball joint shaft upwards then tighten the nut

 

Ahh, so is it tapered then? So forcing it up slightly will lock it?

 

exactly. although i have had the whole weight of the car on them sometimes in order to lock em up

 

Really appreciate that, had me really worried as the car is on the drive and couldn't move it anywhere

 

your of course welcome

 

Clamp the ball joint into the hub with a G clamp or vise grips, that'll have it

 

hi mate,

are talking about the track rod ends (the bit that does the steering) or the bottom ball joint (end of the bottom arm)??

stevie

 

The track rod ends

I needed to remove them to realign the bottom ball joints up, along with the ARB bolts, probably unnecessary for a pro, (which I'm not)

 

Erm yeah, twas unnecessary!

 

Thats what you would think, I have whipped many drive shafts and ball joints out in my time, with great ease. This one though

Tiny little wishbones, which were being upspung by the ARB, then the leg itself being pushed down by the suspension spring.

All in all a **** of a job, and one I wish never to repeat.

 

in that case jacking up the the bottom arms isn't going to do anything, thats only good for bottom ball joints. make sure the shank and the hole in the hub are clean. as bob said try a G clamp or mole grips, i've even managed it with a couple of tie wraps! but when i can find it i use my ball joint splitter to press it together rather than apart.

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stevie

 

i know its no help at all but i use my windy gun for things like this


i sugest you get a pry bar and push it down then tighten

 

Hmm, think this has got confused slightly, the bottom ball joints are no longer an issue, they are sorted, it the nut that bolts the track rod arm to the hub thats the issue.

 

i'm on about track rod ends!

 

I see, I have gone from being confident of solving this to worried again.


Right to recap, use the g clamp to squeeze the track rod end and the hub together

 

thats it, make sure its clean from oil / grease and clean the threads as well. usually you don't need that much pressure, as soon as the nut bites it clamps its self, although some come with an allen key way, so you can stop it spinning that way.

stevie

 

Confident again


Thanks for your help mate

 

no worries mate, good luck

 

I think I might have made that confusing, I was trying to imply 'the ball joint on the TRE'. I knew what I meant

When you clamp it down, friction on the taper holds it enough to wind the nut on. You don't ususally have a problem undoing it as the taper is already seized into the hub

 

I shall post my results tomorrow

 

Cool

Don't worry about it, I mean what's the worst that can happen?!

 

thats what I thought

 

Had to do the same job on a 106 last weekend.. Ran into the same problem.. I just bolted it back together and put the cars weight on the ball joint.. bolt tightend up after a bit of thumping with a hammer

 

cool, glad its not just me then


Seems my prob was I didnt know that the shaft is tapered, if I had have known that earlier I would have tried a few other methods.

 

Jobs a goodun, jacked it up under the track rod ends and they tightened up just fine