Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Ok before I get slated I haven't actually started this job yet, I'm just wondering if there are any gotchas lol. When re-attaching the ball joints of the upper/lower arms to the hubs, is there anything in particular that needs to be done to prevent the balljoint from just freely spinning while you are trying to tighten? Is there a hex location or something that I can hold it in place with, or does it just "work" on its own? Incidentally, refreshing the nuts/bolts/washers/split pins/adjusters etc is £220 total. Expensive for nuts and bolts but well worth it if you're working on the arms etc.... and the going rate for Supra wishbone-esque parts I would say lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 there is a tool you can get to stop them spinning, but as you are replacing the nuts and bolts good call ! you shouldnt have too much trouble , i normally get away with locating pushing it in and droping the car down then tightening sometimes with the hand of a hammer to lock the ball joint, sounds like the build is almost there are you still updating your build thread ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 there is a tool you can get to stop them spinning, but as you are replacing the nuts and bolts good call ! you shouldnt have too much trouble , i normally get away with locating pushing it in and droping the car down then tightening sometimes with the hand of a hammer to lock the ball joint, sounds like the build is almost there are you still updating your build thread ? Still a fair bit to do but I want it ready to roll as soon as it is. Doing the straight forward mechanical jobs at the moment, the footery stuff can come later. The entire suspension has been removed and the car is on axle stands so dropping down to get the weight on to apply tension isn't really an option unfortunately. Hopefully friction will be my friend Not updating the build thread but I'll be updating my website and FB page... when I can be bothered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 im glad to see its still moving on mate keep up the good work, if you have a puller set you might ba able to locate one of them in a position that it pulls in the arm/hub to the bull joint if you get stuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 im glad to see its still moving on mate keep up the good work, if you have a puller set you might ba able to locate one of them in a position that it pulls in the arm/hub to the bull joint if you get stuck Not quite back in the saddle yet but I'm lining everything up for a good push. That way I'll have most of it done and just little niggly things to get sorted out. I've just had a cunning plan. I'll put the nut on a few turns and use the balljoint splitter between the nut and the wishbone to pull the balljoint into place If the worst comes to the worst of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) Alternatively a technique I used to use when working on the deck is to get yourself a small scissor or bottle jack(assuming you're doing it on the floor) and jack it up on the ball joint. Should be enough pressure on it to prevent it spinning. Edited February 19, 2013 by Kirk (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Alternatively a technique I used to use when working on the deck is to get yourself a small scissor or bottle jack(assuming you're doing it on the floor) and jack it up on the ball joint. Should be enough pressure on it to prevent it spinning. Jack it up onto what though? Picture no upper wishbone attached, no lower wishbone attached, no hub attached and no damper/spring attached Now lightly bolt in the lower, lightly bolt in the upper and lightly bolt the hub onto both the lower and the upper. If I put a jack onto the bottom of the lower wishbone... there's nothing to push up onto as the whole assy will just move upwards. If I attach the coilover, I'll simply be pushing against the coilover via the lower wishbone, with no pressure going into the hub. Or am I thinking about this all wrong? As I said I've not actually assembled anything yet, the whole lot is completely stripped off, just waiting on Steve shipping out my bits and bobs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Is there enough room to get a ball joint locking tool in there, plenty of different types for sale if you google ball joint locking tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) Ah, I assumed wrongly that you were much further along! Now when I say jack it up I meant wind the jack up directly underneath the ball joint. I know the entire assembly will just push up when jacked up but it's usually enough to prevent the joint from spinning away. Obviously this doesn't really work for the upper wishbone Edited February 19, 2013 by Kirk (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Is there enough room to get a ball joint locking tool in there, plenty of different types for sale if you google ball joint locking tool I tried google images but they are all wildly different results. Very few look remotely similar and most images show the ball joint splitting tool. Am I looking for something like a g-clamp, or something to force the joint together? Using quotes, ie "ball joint locking tool", brought up no results unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 yes scott they are sort of like a double sided G clamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedrosixfour Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Just screw the nut on Scott, if the treads are clean and free of burrs even the clamping effort you can apply by hand is usually enough to hold the ball joint tight in the taper until the nut make contact with the hub and starts pulling the taper in properly. I've had all my wishbone out when fitting the polybushes and no special tools were required to refit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Magic, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.