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what bolt/nut sizes on my ball joint?

6K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  I AM A GOD 
#1 ·
I will be changing my two front ball joint and arms in a few days, before i scrape my hands and discover i do not have the correct size spanners, could you guys give me a list of the tools and sizes i need to take them off, and any helpfull tips on how to do it? :)

thanks you all :)
 
#2 ·
17mm for upper wishbone and droplink nuts. You'll also need a torx socket (can't remember size!) or allen key to hold the bolt while you undo the lock nut.

19mm for lower ball joint nut and the bolt through the lower arm and fork too. Lower arm mounting bolts are all 17mm as well I think (DON'T OVER TIGHTEN THESE!)

Which arms are you changing? Upper or lower or both? .. helps when giving you hints!
 
#3 ·
I've just done the lower wishbones on mine how ever its a jtd so may be different. The 4 bolts that hold the wishbone to the subframe are 15. I cannot imagine these being different. The lower nut on the balljoint is 22 but this may be different for the ts. All the rest are 19 and 17
 
#5 ·
That depends if they want to play ball. Can take about an hour a side . Can take a day! My technique as follows:

1: Jack up on subframe.
2: axle stand on manufactures body mount ( the sticky out bit just back from the arch in from the sill)
3: Ball joint nut off. (22mm)
4: with a ball joint splitter (halfords for a fiver) insert and hit ( Hard:) May take a while. Just keep hitting it.
5: I remove the droplinks (17mm and allen key)next to give room for the wishbone to slide out. It just makes life easier. If they get stuck angle grinder and order new ones ( this nearly always happens) best just to get some as your bound to need one on 1 side! They are cheap eeven for genuines.
6: undo 4 bolts holding wishbone to subframe (15mm)
7: Pull hub assembly towards you with one hand while pulling wisbone clear with the other. (best to leave keys in car so you can rotate the wheel while you are down there.)
8: push new wishbone into place. (copper hammer or hammer if you havent got one) to coaks it roughly in.
9: get front bush short bolt in first on the wishbone (easiest). Leave it loose
10: connect balljoint to hub and do nut up loosly too.
11: with jack, jack up the hub assembly (on the hub not disc) until the wishbone is horizontal. With a wiggle you should be able to get the short bolt on the back bush in.
12: Using a screwdriver you don't care about and the hammer allign the bushes up with the holes so you can get the 2 long bolts for the wishbone in. If you've not jacked the wishbone level they will never catch the thread and go in.
13: Do it all up.
14: replace droplink.
15 Repeat other side.
16 Go get it tracked. (About £30)

Hows that!!!!!
 
#7 ·
Thanks !!!!!!!!

sorry on the late reply!!!

i will be doing it this afternoon/tomorrow.

I will let you guys knoe how well it goes :)
 
#8 ·
good good
 
#9 ·
I've resorted to removing the hub, upright (they connects to the upper wishbone) and driveshaft as one (disconnect from the inner end with six 6mmm hex bolts) to get the lower wishbone mounting bolts in without cross-threading them!!
 
#10 ·
i am in the middle of putting the new ones in... i got the old ones out in 20 mins.... but i cannot get the new wishbone rear (long threaded bolts) to line up, how on gods earth do you get the rear bushes to lay flat so i can bolt them up !!!!!!!!!!

if i jack up the car, the drive shaft hits the lower suspension arm, and i am worried about bending it.... and i cant get the wishbone to sit level as the car lifts of the jacks before then !!! stoping them getting to a level position.... i have been scraping knuckels for 2 hours now trying to get the rear bolts in !!!!!!

you removed the inner drive shaft.... but does that mean all the gear oil will drain out???


HELP ME !!!!!!!!! the car goes back in for its EU (M.O.T.) in the early hours of the morning !!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#11 ·
Ok if you are struggling then take the nut back off the bottom balljoint. This is the hardest bit I find too. sometime its easy sometimes its not. Now jack up the end of the wishbone with the hub pulled out of the way. It should go level. Get under the car and look at the holes to see if they line up. If not thenuse hammer and a punch/screw driver to line up carefully. You should be able to get that back one in. Its fiddly I know and if you are really struggling stop and have a cup of tea. When you come back it usually slots stright in. If you pull the shafts teh oil will come out but you can always top it back up. Let us know how you get on.
 
#12 ·
i have tried that, but the wishbone pushes the drive shaft on to the bottom "folk" of the suspension, i am worried that if i push the suspension up via presssure through the drive shaft that it will bend it, or put it out of balance... i really do not want to take the drive shaft off :(....
 
#13 ·
try putting something under the fork as well so you can jack both the wishbone up at the same time. This will relieve the pressure on the shaft. You could always put the long bolt back through the fork and wishbone and move the whole assembly about? I find this restricts movement though. The other option is to drop the subframe down by slackening the bolts. As you will have to get the car tracked anyway its not a problem.
 
#14 ·
Fianaly got them done !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

11 hours for the 2 sides, and 2 people !!!!!!!!

never again.....
but still love the bella :)
 
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