11 replies to this topic

[roberts]

ok then ill try my best!

im fitting my coilovers, i do my driver side first:

1) remove my damper

2) and its top bracket (as it is to be replaced)

3) then i go to remove my rubber cone

so i remove the bolt that holds the upper suspension arm to the upper swivel hub balljoint.....all fine......then i cant ge the upper arm away because i need a balljoint tool!

so i think ill get one 2moro....so ill do the same on the other side!

so....

passenger side!

1) remove my damper

2) and its top bracket (as it is to be replaced)

3) then i go to remove my rubber cone

so once again i go to remove the bolt that holds the upper suspension arm to the upper swivel hub balljoint.......but the bolt keeps spinning round

not the nut, the bolt, so its not that it has been threaded as its fine!

but the actually bolt (thread) that the nut is on is spinning round so i cant take the nut off!


can anyone help??

this mean i need a new upper swivel balljoint? and do i know need a whole new hub or can u buy them?

thanks
roberts

[bluebottle]

try putting your trolley jack under the lower balljoint, and jacking the hub up until you have most of the weight of the car on the hub, this will force the taper on the pin and the arm harder together, hopefully making it grip enough to get the nut off.

if this fails you can get nut splitters quite cheaply in car shops or tool shops, these have like the end of a chisel on a thread, you put it over the nut and do it up, and it splits the nut, without damaging the thread, so all you need is a new nut.

good luck!

[siggy]

Don't forget you need to use a cone compressor.

Siggy

[cowboy]

as blue bottle said use a trolley jack, works 95% of the time.

as for the swivel ball joint, they come in kits of two per hub from most suppliers and are quite cheap, pick up a mini magazine for details, if you don't have one allready. :wales:

[roberts]

Don't forget you need to use a cone compressor.

Siggy

well wen i get my upper arm and hub apart wont my upper arm drop enough to be able to force my cone out wiv a screw driver as on the rear??



and cheers but i cant see how you can get a jack under it??


ill try it though and get back to you thanks

[roberts]

and another thing its a 1996 1275i !

ok to compress my cone i need to tun bolts in the engine bay!

were are they as i cant see them........do i have to move my ecu to get at them??

[roberts]

cant get a jack in on that!

any other help?

[adam c]

this happened to me but my nuts were seized solid. I split the nut with a chisel, it takes a while but works well and you should be able to re-use the bolt, I put a new one in though as I was overhauling the ball joints anyway. Have no experience of nut splitters but they seem like a good idea and would save a lot of bruised knockles when you slip with the hammer!:grin:
Good luck...

[cowboy]

you should be able to place your jack under the lower ball joint if not as close to it as you can, putting the jack in from the front helps.
ball joint splitters are very usefull tool to have in your box, though they can cause as much trouble as a chisel if not used properlly.

[Cooperman]

The last time this happened to me I used an angle grinder to grind away the nut and the threaded portion of the ball joint. The heat can also help to free off the taper section so that a wedge-type splitter will easily break out the swivel pin, or what's left of it, although if it's all turning, it can't be a tight fit anyway and you would need a new one anyway.
A new ball joint kit is only about £8 per side.

[roberts]

cheers people




ill just cut the nut

[roberts]

god didnt know how much of a job it was lol


got to take all my hub off to do it!