General ball joint replacement

[x Alex x]

hey ff

had a quick search and can't find much on replacing ball joints on the GP, was checking the car over before it's MOT this week and my O/S ball joint needs replacing.

has anyone done it themselves? i haven't done a ball joint on a car yet myself but i've got a good mechanical knowledge and toolkit, is there anything specific to GP's that would cause any major problems or headaches?

had a word with a lad i know who works at a local garage and will do it for £60 inc the part so i'm trying to work out if it's worth the £50 i'll save doing it myself, the car is slammed at the moment so the lad can't get it on the 4 poster, he'd be doing it on the floor, like me

if i do end up doing it myself i'll do a little guide for the gp section

cheers!

 

[shaun6017]

hey ff

had a quick search and can't find much on replacing ball joints on the GP, was checking the car over before it's MOT this week and my O/S ball joint needs replacing.

has anyone done it themselves? i haven't done a ball joint on a car yet myself but i've got a good mechanical knowledge and toolkit, is there anything specific to GP's that would cause any major problems or headaches?

had a word with a lad i know who works at a local garage and will do it for £60 inc the part so i'm trying to work out if it's worth the £50 i'll save doing it myself, the car is slammed at the moment so the lad can't get it on the 4 poster, he'd be doing it on the floor, like me

if i do end up doing it myself i'll do a little guide for the gp section

cheers!

Alrite mate normally ball joints are really easy 2 do it consists of takin wheel off undoing 3 bolts then splitting the ball joint itself. thats the hardest bit n is easier with the correct tool all together on the Jack a 20 min job

HOWEVER fiat being fiat decided to make it difficult witch I found out when doin mine the other month. The 3 bolts arnt bolts there compressed inplace so that they cnt b removed unless u grind the tops off then nock the middle out with a hammer. Then u will need 3 bolts n nylock nuts to replace when u put ur New balljoint on. I ended up changeing the whole lower arm instead of jus the ball joint found it easier n less work although it does cost more lol

Hope this helps if u can understand wot iv said lol

 

[ChrisUK]

You got any knocking coming from the suspension when turning corners / accelerating hard?

 

[x Alex x]

Cheers Shaun great info much appreciated!

Hi chris, it's had a little clunk for a while going over bumps, from both front wheels, recently had coilovers with new drop links, I put some arb bushes on and it's still there.

I'm not driving the car at the moment as I'm on crutches, I've swapped with the mrs as hers is an auto (left leg in a cast) she tells me it sounds like something's grinding along the road at times like an undertray or something.. I managed to get underneath and the o/s ball joint has lots of play.

 

[shaun6017]

No problem mate let me know how u get on with it.

 

[ChrisUK]

You gonna do the ball joint on crutches

 

[x Alex x]

Off the crutches on Wednesday hopefully

Ordered the ball joint earlier.

 

[x Alex x]

Off the crutches on Wednesday hopefully

Ordered the ball joint earlier.

Anyone else got any tips or anything? I've watched a few vids on YouTube and they all seem to be on yank tanks which to me look a lot different to the gp! They're taking the whole hub assembly out and onto a bench to get the ball joint out!

Hoping to get it done tomorrow if the part comes, I don't have a ball joint splitter but going off some of the stuff I've read online maybe I can use a G clamp or similar?

With being on crutches the past 2 weeks I've not had a chance to get Under the car to have an idea of what I'm dealing with from what I've read in the doblo section taking the suspension arm off is the best option if they're similar to the gp which I imagine they would be.

Any help greatly appreciated lol!

 

[shaun6017]

Alrite mate splittin the joint without the tool is hard but with some patience a large flat screw driver n a hammer it will cum off. The ball basically sits in a clamp loosen the nut off n then jus work away.

As for takin the lower arm off yeah it will help coz then ur not workin round the hub wen grinding ect but its not imperative that u do. If u do go go down that way u will need some star attachments on ur socket set also undo the bolts not the nuts. The nuts are fixed in place u will not move them lol

 

[shaun6017]

Dont watch the yanks on tanks will jus b over the top n off putting. Honestly theres nothin 2 worry bout at all ull b kickin urself for bein so put of by it when ur done

 

[x Alex x]

Excellent cheers mate! Might end up getting a ball joint splitter to be honest because it'll get used again, the garage wanted £50 labour to do the job so I'm in profit straight away even if I buy one

 

[x Alex x]

Ball joint is on, old one was well shot

Nice and easy job, got the ball joint out with a large adjustable spanner, had to grind the heads of the original studs then drill them out.

It's all back together with no play but is making a strange noise, kind of like what I'd imagine rubber rubbing against metal to sound like so I'm going to re check it tomorrow.

It's had 2 new front tyres on so I reckon they rubbing on the plastic wheel well trim lol! It must be dropped about 120mm, I didn't notice the noise one the drive back from the tyre place before doing the ball joint though, hope its nothing serious!

 

[shaun6017]

Glad it went ok. I told u it was a easy job

Noise cud jus b it nt sittin quite rite wen u put it bck in. I do hope u took the cover off the ball joint. Recheck it 2moz check everythin is tight enough

 

[x Alex x]

Yeah mate cheers, would have been easier to get a whole new arm but only took 10 mins to get the old ball joint out so not too bad, I'll check it out tomorrow and report back lol

Was definitely getting quieter as it done a few mile but it doesn't have an MOT until next week

 

[x Alex x]

Checked it over today and I'm confident it's all together as it should be, no play in the joint.

I reckon the extra tread on the new tyres is causing them to rub a bit on the arches, I'll raise the front suspension a little and see what happens.

 

[ChrisUK]

Nice one. The source of my knocking was the anti-roll bar drop link. I changed it today and it's nice and quiet again . I had a look at the ball joints and I don't fancy doing them if I needed too lol.

 

[x Alex x]

Nice one my coilovers came with new drop links, put some powerflex arb bushes on it at the same time.

It's getting through tyres at an alarming rate, fronts are lasting about 7k miles

 

[x Alex x]

Found out what the noise was, noticed the car was a bit lower on the off side where I'd replaced the ball joint, the ball joint must have been on its way out when I put my coilovers on.. Putting the new ball joint on had knocked the adjustment of the coilover out making it lower causing the wheel to rub on the plastic arch liner.

Wound it up level to the other wide and it's silent, passed its retest yesterday too