5 replies to this topic

[shadydaverave]

Hi just thought i'd post an imformative bit of info after my shananigans, after a funny noise from the front end, suspecting a worn cv joint i removed my offside front wheel to reveal a loose hub and a loose hub castle nut, it was just resting on the split pin!!!! Anyway following my haynes manual to re-torque it up came across an ingenious soulution, instead of making some sort of metal tool to put on the wheel bolts to stop the hub turning as haynes sugests,
I instead fitted my spare wheel on, which has the hole in the middle makes the bolt quite accesable, lowered the vehicle down and got help from someone to step on the brake,
The nut torqued on quite nicley
Then reffitted the alloy job done.

Im thinking soon about changing my ball joints, track rod ends and wheel bearings all myself, does anybody think this is an immensly involved job? Should i back down and pay the mechanic?

[RelyTM251]

If you are fairly competent and know what your doing then theres no reason to waste your money paying for a mechanic to do it.

[bobs]

Im thinking soon about changing my ball joints, track rod ends and wheel bearings all myself, does anybody think this is an immensly involved job? Should i back down and pay the mechanic?

Easy day or if you drink tea like I do, weekend work.

Ball joints are easy, takes the longest amount of time from your list, and you'll probably need to invest in a ball joint splitter, or there are other big hammer ways...

Watch this:

Trackrods, easy if you have spanners and know how to use them.

Bearings also easy when changing the ball joints.

I say do it all yourself, I have I've seen less experienced people do it, and you've got a Haynes, so use it... Invest in the tools as you'll probably use them more than once, cheaper than a mechanic and the knowledge that a good job has been done, you may also spot something else that needs attention, not disrespecting mechanics, some are very good.

[rww]

Im thinking soon about changing my ball joints, track rod ends and wheel bearings all myself, does anybody think this is an immensly involved job? Should i back down and pay the mechanic?

None of he above are technically difficult but you will (should) find the hub swivel ball joint retaining socket(S) is pretty difficult to undo. It should be torqued up to 70-80 lbs/ft and requires the correct socket and breaker bar to undo it. You also need a reasonably large vice, well fixed, to hold the hub assembly. Once these sockets are undone the job is straightforward but it is useful to have a Haynes handy to refer to.

[shadydaverave]

cool, thanks guys, think i'll set aside a couple of days and get too it think ill get a universal ball joint splitter, already got a breaker bar think ill also change brake discs and pads whilst im at it

[Pooky]

You'll need a deep 1 1/2" socket for the domed ball joint nuts too.