davidcar Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Hi all, can anyone explain the process to replace lower ball joints on a 1993 terrano/pathfinder. I went to replace my lower ball joints and it looks loke I have to remove the entire setup to get the ball joint out?? HELP how do I do this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidcar Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 Hi all, can anyone explain the process to replace lower ball joints on a 1993 terrano/pathfinder. I went to replace my lower ball joints and it looks loke I have to remove the entire setup to get the ball joint out?? HELP how do I do this?? I did some seaching and it appears that I have to remove the wheel hub from the rotor. There is an area where the CV boot attach's near to the rotor and this is what is stoping me getting the ball joint out, would it be the back of the wheel hub? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhatter_xe Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 umm...is there a c-clip in there? Check to see if there is a snap ring holding it in there, i am pretty sure there is one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I'm going to be doing this this weekend, weather permitting, and it doesn't look like fun. First, the CV drive hub *is* in the way of removing the ball joints. Even if you use a pickle fork remover (which I do not recommend on Nissans), it's still a bit in the way, and you don't want to damage it. Second, given all the labor involved, you might want to give thought to just going ahead and replacing everything under there while you're at it. Here's what I'm replacing (I have shot wheel bearings and bad lower ball joints): Upper ball joints, lower ball joints, inner and outer wheel bearings, wheel seals, brake rotors. Since it's pretty much the same labor to do one as to do all, I figured what the heck, might as well do it right and not have to go in there again for a while. The (simplified) procedure is this: Remove locking hub. Remove locknut from spindle. Remove hub and rotor assembly from spindle/drive axle being careful to remove and suspend the brake caliper so that the brake hose doesn't stretch or break. Pop the balljoints loose from the knuckle. Remove the balljoints from the control arms and remove spindle. You will need to make or buy the special tool to get the spindle locknuts off. As you can see, you have to do quite a bit to get to them. It's a little more involved than some 4x4s, but like all the Jeeps and LRs I've worked on, you might as well replace all the ball joints, wheel bearings and seals, and either replace or resurface the rotors while you're at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 BS! Pull the hub (manual or auto) and remove the snap ring. LEAVE THE REST OF THE HUB/ROTOR ALONE! Undo the Tie Rod Put a jack under the LCA and remove the upper BJ. FORK IS OK IF YOU ARE REPLACING IT! Let the jack down slowly till the shock bottoms out. Turn the spindle till you can pop the axel shaft out, takes a little wiggling and getting it in the sweet spot. Undo the lower BJ, again FORK OK if replacing. Then do it all in reverse. (Option; you can undo the tension on the T-bar adjusters rather than use a Jack on the LCA, what I actually did, but can be a pain without air tools.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Ditto, I just dropped out the whole knuckle, pulled out the CV and then replaced the lower BJ. Careful, that knuckle/brake setup is heavy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I was quoting the manual and using past experience on 4x4s for the above. Guess there is a shortcut. BUT... The thing about the pickle forks and why they're a bad idea is that you can actually damage/bend control arms with it when you're trying to remove a ball joint. I've seen it happen, I've actually done it by accident (and had to buy a new control arm for a 300ZX); it's just a bad idea, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 It's a fork, not a prybar. Stick it between the ball joint and the spindle and you won't bend anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 (edited) If you were using it as a pry bar, you wouldn't bend the control arm. In order to use it, you whack the end of the fork with a hammer to drive the wedge between the ball joint and the arm or object it's in. If the joint is stuck (say, rusted in place or even just not coming out), the impacts get transmitted into the suspension arm. What do you think that force does? And if you have damaged joints that you're trying to remove, sometimes you end up breaking the pin of the ball joint right off with that pickle fork. And then you get to have the fun of figuring out some other way to get it out. Sometimes it's the right tool to use. On the other hand, sometimes it's not. And it's often easier just to use one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=38335 No Neanderthalic hammering required. Edited January 19, 2008 by GhostPath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I've done it several times without pulling any CV's completely out of the spindle...just pulled the hub and snap ring...pulled the top and lower BJs replaced the lower then replaced the top the 1st time I did this it took about 6 hrs but we did rotors pads calipers lines and a bunch of other stuff...but I have replaced all 4 of my BJs in less than an hr on my 95... now one problem I didd have was the fork not being thick enough so I placed a wrench under both sides of the fork prior to knocking it under the BJ and this gave it enough height to pop it loose... if you run into the issue of the taper spinning and not tightening up...get it as tight as you can and place a jack under the lower BJ and jack it up some or you can put the wheel back on and set the truck down then jack it back up...this should seat the BJ and allow you to apply the proper torque Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidcar Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks all for your advice. I did it without pulling any CV's completely out of the spindle...just pulled the hub and snap ring, etc. While I was in there I repacked the CV joints and wheel bearings as well. Anything hard about removing upper control arm bushes, (do they need pressing out??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 yes you need a press...to get mine out we used my buddies grandfathers manual press with about a 2ft torque arm on it and they came out fairly easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I always burn mine out. Been through about six spindles now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 we started burning on the one but it made some nasty black smoke and left some nice tar on the concrete so we broke out the press Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidcar Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 Thanks guy's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 burning... as in... like... burning away the item itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 burning... as in... like... burning away the item itself? Yep, you just hit them with a torch and wait for them to burn/melt/fall out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastpath Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 BS! Pull the hub (manual or auto) and remove the snap ring. LEAVE THE REST OF THE HUB/ROTOR ALONE! Undo the Tie Rod Put a jack under the LCA and remove the upper BJ. FORK IS OK IF YOU ARE REPLACING IT! Let the jack down slowly till the shock bottoms out. Turn the spindle till you can pop the axel shaft out, takes a little wiggling and getting it in the sweet spot. Undo the lower BJ, again FORK OK if replacing. Then do it all in reverse. (Option; you can undo the tension on the T-bar adjusters rather than use a Jack on the LCA, what I actually did, but can be a pain without air tools.) to turn the spindle, should i have it in neutral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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