Victorious - ball joints and tie rod removal

[gsxrken]

One of the simpler things you can do on these cars is ball joint and tie rod replacement.
From a technical standpoint, that is; not from a physical standpoint. Ball joint removal reads very easy... remove pinch bolt, spin off retaining nut underneath control arm, and separate.
It takes a considerable amount of tools, thought, and exertion to actually do the job.


More difficult than that was the tie rod replacement. Kind of a dirty job, too, with all sorts of brake dust, rack grease, and general road dust and dirt.


The challenge with the rack-side nut is that it is too tight up in there to get a real wrench on the nut. And the nut has four flat spots that are not wide enough to get a box end wrench on, and even if you had a really thin spanner wrench, it's likely that the flats would not be in a position that you could employ the wrench.


The RH side came out easy enough with a 10" plumbing wrench and everything I had power wise, but the LH side fought more valiantly. I couldn't hold back on the rack on this side, and so I would get some twist before the nut would be under some torque, and by then the wrench would have rotated enough to be bottoming out on the floorpan. Mr. Torch came out of the basement- my wife always thinks it's going to blow up the house- and I heated the rack up to expand it a bit around the rod threads. I employed an impressive amount of tools to get the damn things off the rack end.

Between that, and a persuader on my plumbing wrench, and pulling so hard I almost yanked the car off the four good jackstands I use, (it did move... yikes), it came free.


My Pelican order arrives tomorrow per the FedEx tracking number, and I need to quickly install these parts and get an alignment before next Friday's track day at NJMP.

In summary, it's another very doable DIY job, but you will use more tools than you would have thought before all is said and done.

[speednme1]

Good job Kenny...really digging your floors. What kind of tiles are those?

[Richard930]

Ha - I think you've undersold what a pita this job can be. As you say - not terribly difficult but what a pain. I did the same earlier this summer including upper strut mount bushings, but only got one side done before my wife decided I'd spent enough time in the garage for one year! She might have been more understanding if (a) we didn't have a 1 year old crawling around, and (b) I hadn't spent the previous two weekends ripping apart the interior replacing carpet, restoring leather seats, installing heat exchangers and motor mounts etc. Getting a pro to do the other side was some of the best money I ever spent.

Good for you for getting it all done yourself. Car should feel nice and tight for another 25 years.

[Miguel Antonett]

It could be worse, at least you got it done... Next time it'll be easier. Congrats!

[jwasbury]

I did the "full monty" suspension refresh on my '79 2 years ago.

Tie rods, Ball joints, torsion bars (Front & Rear), shocks (Front and Rear), front control arm bushings, spring plate bushings, trailing arm bushings replaced with monoballs.

Not particularly difficult from a technical perspective, but dirty, grunty, caveman kind of work. The most important tool in my arsenal was a 4lb hammer...the "strong persuader." I ended up dropping the steering rack to do the tie rods...was just easier from an access perspective.

I'd rather rebuild my engine 10 times than do the suspension job again

[slow&rusty]

I did this same job last summer when I converted my car from torsion bars to coilovers, but I found removing the steering rack was the way to go to get the tie rods off on a bench.
Congrats, it is a great feeling when it all comes off and the new shiny parts go back in.
Yasin

[gsxrken]

Darn Pelican requested signature for some reason, so instead if getting my parts from the FedEx guy, I got a 'sorry we missed you" sticker on my door.
Crushing.

[gsxrken]

Originally Posted by speednme1

Good job Kenny...really digging your floors. What kind of tiles are those?

Closing the loop here- Rey, the tiles are from Swisstrax Garage Flooring - Interlocking Flooring - Modular Flooring - Garage Floor Tiles - Rubber Floor Tiles. I found out that Swisstrax have thicker, heavier tiles compared to RaceDeck, and more connectors (5 vs. 4) so they go together more solidly.

And thanks for the Dan Jacobs Porsche shop recommendation. Very nice outfit up in Oxford, CT did my alignment and checked my corner balance. (I found that my car is a portly 2,877 no driver, half a tank of gas.) I also learned that one of my rear plates is tweaked and got to chatting with Dan a bit about t-bars and bushings. This is a 99% street car, and I don't want to go all out with bars and bronze bushings adding more NVH in this car for 2 track days a year. BTDT with other cars and resisting the urge with this one.

The new parts eliminated some minor play in the steering wheel. Feels great, and nice to have another box checked off on the maintenance front.

[jwasbury]

Ken, at some point you can give my car a try to see what slightly bigger bars and poly bronze bushes feel like.

[IMR-Merlin]

PITA, but gratifying once it's done, knowing you did it yourself.

[philip j]

a plumber, looking at that array of tools! My god, you even got the basin wrench out Philip

[gsxrken]

Not a plumber but I did get that torch on.Craigslist from one!
I do all my own work when practical. I thought I had a great tool for getting that inside tie rod... until it broke.

I always use the torch as a last resort or at wits end. I should probably start with it. It always works.