Ball Joint replacement '97 Legacy

[xFoo]

Hello all,

 

I'm replacing the CV axles on my '97 Legacy and I tore the boot on the ball joint while separating the control arm from the ball joint stud. I checked the other side and the boot on that ball joint has a large crack in it as well, so I decided to just change them out. I've run into a problem though. I cannot get the ball joint out of the steering knuckle!

 

I got the pinch bolt out, hammered a screwdriver into the slot, put the BJ stud back into the control arm, and threaded the castle nut back on. I've been prying on it with the pickle fork I used to get the control arm separated from the BJ stud but haven't been able to get it to budge.

 

Can I use a hammer on the control arm? Directly or force delivered through a wood block? What about the giant pry bar I asked my brother to bring over?

[johnceggleston]

unbolt the sway bar from the control arm as long as the arm is spring loaded it will be difficult. the sway bar is easy to line up and reattach as the car is lowered to the ground.

[J A Blazer]

Would that still be necessary if both front wheels were off the ground, and removed?

[johnceggleston]

i believe so.

[GeneralDisorder]

You are probably dealing with rust eh? They can be a real pain. You want to open up the pinch with a screwdriver and then use a good amount of penetrant on it. I use a 24" pry-bar (not a cheap one either) to pry the ball joint free of the knuckle. They can be a real beast. I've worked on them for 30 minutes to get them off before.

 

GD

[naru]

Chisel to open the pinch.

 

4+ foot "prybar" makes it easy.

[idosubaru]

Chisel to open the pinch.

 

4+ foot "prybar" makes it easy.

+1, don't use a screw driver. get a chisel in it. i've pounded the snot out of them before but they can break too.

 

get penetrant in there - YIELD, PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, good stuff, not WD40 that doesn't count.

 

for future reference, don't remove the ball joint to replace the axle. i never do it that way, it's a waste of time. once the wheels are off i only remove one bolt to replace axles. the top strut mount bolt and loosen the lower one. hub rotates out away from the strut mount and you can pull the axle out that way. pull off of trans first, snake it upwards while you pull it out of the hub and you're done. that's 100% repeatable and the strut bolts are never difficult to remove or damageable like ball joints.

[xFoo]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

I got them off using a good dose of PB Blaster and a longer pry bar.

 

Next time I'll go the Strut mount direction. Sounds much easier.

 

I read somewhere that when I pull the axles off the transmission will leak lubricant. Is that unavoidable? and what do I replace it with? It is a manual transmission.

[xFoo]

No lubrication leak when I removed the axles, but those retaining pins were a pain to get out and put back in with the new axles.

 

Only thing left now is getting the new ball joints inserted. Can I just thread the old nut onto the new BJ stud a few revolutions and then wack it with a small sledge?

 

And then to wrap everything up does anybody know the correct ft/lbs. torque for the ball joint nut and the axle nut?

[Fuzpile]

Haynes says 29 ft-lbs for the ball joint /cntrol arm nut. Axle nut 123-151 ft-lbs