Posted by Ron S. (IP: 205.188.193.48) on July 29, 1999 at 23:28:06:
In Reply to: problem separating lower ball joint... posted by stuart on July 29, 1999 at 16:44:22:
Put the castelated nut back on the 'stem' UPSIDE DOWN (flat side up , 'castle' side down) and 'run' it down on the stem until it's flat "top" is even with the top of the stem. Turn the wheels to give you a clear shot with a hammer...(a 2lb or heavier one works best) and give it a coulpe whacks. Usually pops that stubbon thing loose without destroying your threads or ball joints. Speaking of that...the stem SHOULD NOT be turning with the nut (when you tighten it). It is designed with a "conical" shape that "wedges" in the hole when it tightens...try using a floor jack or bottle jack pushing up on the lower arm (slightly, not enought to lift the car) when you install/tighten it, the added force should help it to "seat" in the hole. Those nuts MUST be tightened to 60-90 ft/lbs (I usually "hit the middle", about 75 ft/lbs)! We don't want your suspension to come apart while you're driving your Mav down the road...within the legal limit, of course ;-)
: I'm finally putting disc brakes in the front, something I've been talking about doing for quite a while. I've got one side almost completely done, but I can't separate the spindle from the lower ball joint on the other side. I'm using a ball joint separater (pickle fork), and I drove the thing all the way in but the spindle still didn't pop loose. The stem rotates when you rotate the spindle, by the way... I don't know much about cars so I don't know if that's horribly wrong or anything. Come to think of it, when I tightened the nut down on the new spindle on the other side, I couldn't tighten it all the way down because eventually the stem just started turning with the nut... Hopefully I won't have to replace both lower ball joints.
: thanks,
: stuart
: