replacing ball joints

[slope-nz]

I don't have a ball joint socket,cost to use dos'nt look good. Has any one used a hammer and a drift to tighten the ball joint nut. thanks Randy

[RoninLB]

I used a pipe wrench..

check out the lb. ft. needed

[JP911]

You're going to want to use the right tool to tighten the ball joints. I'd offer you mine, but it was rendered useless after using it to torque my new ball joints. The metal the tool is made out of is so soft that it just deforms.

[Mike Kast]

Get the tool and beg, borrow or steal an impact wrench. Or buy one of those too...Imagine if one of those nuts fell off? Man, I would be worried about it every time I drove. There is a bunch of stress on those little machines. Sorry to be so technical

Where are you located?

[slope-nz]

JP911, Was the socket from PP or some other supplier? I have a good compresor(135psi) and a impact wrench. The jest of this post is do the job right but if the socket self destructs this makes it even less desirable to spend money on one. Thanks Randy

[Superman]

A pneumatic wrench is a very good way to ruin the socket tool quickly. Takes just a few seconds to destroy it with air.

I put something firm on the floor under the strut, and lower the car so the tool and wrench are pinched by the car's weight. This keeps the tool from popping off the nut.

Ron's remark invites us to consider the factory specified torque for this ball joint nut. Something like 50 lb-ft. So, it does not require massive force. Removing it does require some good force, but installing it should not.

[slope-nz]

FWIW, I have the a-arms off the the car and can work with them very easy. I should check the tork spec,but they were mother's to get off. Thanks Randy

[Mike Kast]

what nut are you talking about here? The castle nut A Arm to ball joint is 180 ft. pounds.
Thats still not really all that much. if you have a 2 foot torque wrench it's only 90 pounds of pressure. It's just a matter of keeping the a arm stable while your twisting. Superman is right about the impact wrench destroying the socket. I guess I was a little paranoid about it being loose and I read to do it that way.
Lug nuts are 94 foot pounds and when I had my car aligned he told me I had them too tight. He threw out the number 300 pounds is too tight! Think about it? I only weigh 140 but if i apply my weight properly to an 18 inch bar I can pretty quickly get 300 lbs.

[Jim Sims]

Some of the ball nuts are on so tightly due to thread corrosion that the tool will be ruined (even if it is kept engaged to the nut with a hydraulic jack) trying to loosen them. If this is the case, cut the nut off with a dremel tool abrasive cut off wheel and use the Porsche tool to tighten the new nuts. Jim

[JP911]

I purchased the socket from Pelican.

[Shuie]

I agree with Jim. Even after I removed my a-arms from the car and fixed them in a vise a 24" pipe wrench with a cheater pipe on it wouldnt budge the 30yr old rsty castle nuts.

Get a pair of safety glasses, dremel w/cutting discs, cold chisel, and mini sledge to remove the old castelated nuts. Use the tool to tighten the new ones.

[Noel]

I used a 1 foot long pipe wrench and applied my body weight to get it around 180 ft-Lbs.

Noel