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Ron Stygar Carl Buckland Dale Beuning Forums Help
From digest.v6.n640 Sat May 24 17:34:45 1997
The control arm end ball joints (the ones at the shock kingpins) can be
easily replaced on the car with the right tools and technique.
Unfortunately, determining the tools and technique came after a few hours of
struggling and a broken ball joint press this past weekend. The shops get 4
hours (BMW NA only pays the dealers 45 minutes for warranty replacements) to
replace the pair of ball joints. The ball joints are approximately $20.00
each with new locknuts. 1. To access the end ball joint, the center ball
joint going through the subframe and the end bracket/bushing assembly
attached to the body can remain in place. Remove the 19mm locknut from the
top of the end ball joint and spray generously with Rost Off (or your
favorite penetrating oil). Let sit for 15-30 minutes.
2a. Use the factory "tapered" fork separator (or equivalent) and attempt
to separate the ball joint from the kingpin. I use a 2kg German style
hammer for this task...you'll really have to hit the fork tool to free the
ball joint from years of rust. If this doesn't seem to work, use a slightly
lighter (smaller) hammer and hit on the ball joint and king pin (you can
also use a hammer or tie rod breaker attachment in your air hammer...ref,
Old Forge pn 1993 and 1981 to speed things along). The key here is force,
not finesse. A wimpy 16oz or dead blow hammer just won't cut it.
2b. An optional way of separating the ball joint is to remove the 2
encapsulated bolts and pivot bolt and separate the shock from the kingpin.
This will allow you to remove the 19mm nut completely from the ball joint
and insert a ball joint press. The ball joint press will pop the joint from
the kingpin without destroying the rubber boot. My problem was that I
overestimated the strength of the tool and underestimated the rust. The
tool went flying into several pieces with that last tightening of the
wrench. The correct way to use a ball joint press is to tighten firmly, hit
the joint repeatedly with a hammer, and then tighten some more. Tension and
impact will eventually pop the joint. The easier way is "2a" as we had no
intention of saving the old ball joint. 3. Once the joint has
separated from the king pin, remove the remains of the rubber boot. Be sure
and mark the ball joint/control arm orientation so you can properly align
the new joint when installing it into the control arm. 4.
Attach the BMW ball joint press tool. Align the upper arbor on the tool with
the ball joint to ensure that you are pressing the ball joint and not the
control arm against itself. Use a 14mm 6-pt deep socket and a long handle
breaker bar (an impact gun is quicker but rough on the tool) to tighten the
press and the old joint will slide out of the control arm.
5. Clean the underside of the control arm with a 2-3" abrasive pad in your
angle grinder (wear eye protection) or use a wire brush and clean the area
by hand. |
