Replacing Ball Joints

[Henry Carraro]

I am in the process of rebuilding the lower A-arms on a 87 Carrera front suspension. Can any of you recommend a inexpensive tool to first remove and more importantly then to install the ball joints nuts to the recommended 175 foot pounds of torque?

Wayne sells one 2" pin socket for $47.00 excluding shipping and they are $10- $15.00 cheaper than anybody but I really don't want to spend $50 - $60 for a tool that I will probably use one time. My local Porsche garage doesn't have one...they replace the entire A-arm instead. Last week I bought a 2" 4wd pin socket tool at Advance Auto for $15.00. At first glance it looked like it might work but it poorly engaged only two of the posts and I took it back.

Is there an alternative out there?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

[greg bradbury]

Spend the money and buy the right tool.

Spray the nuts with a good lot of WD40 and leave overnight.

I found that it was hard to keep the tool from jumping off the castleated nut as it's on really really tight and they tend to be ceased up. I found the best way was to put the tool on my 15" bar with a pipe extension on it. With the tool in place put a jack under the tool and jack the arm up a few inches so that the spring weight on the tool holds it in place. Then use lots of torque and the nut will pop loose. Tighten the same way. Unless you have a torque wrench that will go that high you will just have to tighten it as hard as you can 175ft/ib is a lot so I guess they don't want it to come loose eh. Don't forget to put the locking plate and a new pin. Also a new tapered pin and nut on the strut mount.

If your not confident then pay a shop to do it.

Good luck

[greg bradbury]

P.S. make sure you have the car on good stands and wheels chocked, handbrake on. Probably better to do on side at a time, so leave the other wheel on and on the ground. try not to be under the car at any time as it's dangerous!

[safe]

The magic tool: Pipe wrench.

[The Turk]

I used a dremal tool to cut off the old nut, it only took about 10 minutes using a 1” cutting disk.
I bought the special socket from Pelican and used the jack method for the reinstallation of the new nut.
Trying to get that thing to anywhere near 175 foot lbs. is next to impossible, even with the jack underneath compressing the suspension a few inches the breaker bar socket slipped and off and got chingered a little.
Good luck, it will be worth the effort.

[Henry Carraro]

Thanks fellas. Very good information. I appreciate your advice. I will buy the tool from Pelican.

[safe]

Remember to use a little anti seize when installing. It will help the next man getting it off in the future AND help you get the proper torque when installling.

[randywebb]

"WD40"

No. Use a penetrant like Kroil or pb Blaster.


You can resell the tool when done.

[JeffO]

Where can I find pb Blaster? What makes it better than wd-40, which I think is a great product.

[MOMO3.2]

Henry:

I just did the same job on my 1987 Carrera a couple months ago. I bought a cheap tool from Autozone part #25965. I also purchased a big A$$ torque wrench from Harbor Freight Tools for $60. It is huge (almost 3' long), goes to 300 lb/ft of torque and really was handy on the ball joints and rear axel nuts.

If you were in the Los Angeles area, I would be glad to let you borrow my socket and wrench...

I found the keys to success were: (1) soak the threads in PB Blaster, (2) get the tool engaged securely to the ball joint. (3) use a jack underneath the wrench to apply a lot of pressure evenly so the socket cannot slip off.

When you install the new joints, the jack under the wrench trick works well too.

Good luck!

Mike

[randywebb]

wd-40 = 40th try at a Water Displacement chemical to protect tools etc.

Never meant to break fasteners free!

Kroil can be had by mail order on the Internet.

pb Blaster is at Napa stores where I live - it stinks real real bad.

Pelican may have something - maybe the Wurth stuff, which ought to be good.

[buttjoint]

!4 inch pipe wrench and me. Me= 265lbs and 6'1. No problem