Is replacing the lower balljoint on an A3 a driveshaft out job?
Surely hitler must have made an easier way....
Surely hitler must have made an easier way....
A3 Balljoint
- Thread starter Stanley
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iirc, to take the driveshaft out you have to pop out the lower balljoint. so definately shouldnt need to take the driveshaft out first (if you manage it let me know how)
Haha! If Hitler has anything to do with it then the balljoint will self destruct the moment you remove it LOL...
In answer to your question, you shouldn't have to take the shaft out, having the right tools to do the job (balljoint splitter / remover) makes it sooo much easier to do.
beachbuggy
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As said no you don't need to remove the driveshaft.
Easist way is to spray plenty of WD40 on the nut of the ball joint a few hours before. Jack the car up and remove the front wheel, with the car still jacked up or on a stand use another jack under the wishbone to rise it up enough to get a spanner in between the hub/driveshaft and wishbone to undo the nut on the balljoint. Then remove the Drop link. Undo the nut on the ball joint and lower the wishbone. You may not be able to take the nut off as there isn't enough room, so just make sure it is sprayed well again with WD40 so it can be removed by your fingers. Remove the 3 bolts under the wishbone holding the ball joint in. You can then move the front strut out of the wishbone and using ball joint splitter the old ball joint will drop down and now you can undo the nut completely and remove the ball joint.
The install is obviously the reverse but this time you need to loosely put the ball joint in and the nut on, again as there isn't enough room. Don't do the nut up until the rest of the wishbone is attached and the wishbone is jacked up again. This puts enough pressure on the balljoint to stop is spinning as you tighten the nut on it.
Hope this makes sense, about 45mins work really
Easist way is to spray plenty of WD40 on the nut of the ball joint a few hours before. Jack the car up and remove the front wheel, with the car still jacked up or on a stand use another jack under the wishbone to rise it up enough to get a spanner in between the hub/driveshaft and wishbone to undo the nut on the balljoint. Then remove the Drop link. Undo the nut on the ball joint and lower the wishbone. You may not be able to take the nut off as there isn't enough room, so just make sure it is sprayed well again with WD40 so it can be removed by your fingers. Remove the 3 bolts under the wishbone holding the ball joint in. You can then move the front strut out of the wishbone and using ball joint splitter the old ball joint will drop down and now you can undo the nut completely and remove the ball joint.
The install is obviously the reverse but this time you need to loosely put the ball joint in and the nut on, again as there isn't enough room. Don't do the nut up until the rest of the wishbone is attached and the wishbone is jacked up again. This puts enough pressure on the balljoint to stop is spinning as you tighten the nut on it.
Hope this makes sense, about 45mins work really
The problem I face when doing these is that the nut of the balljoint soon runs out of room when you undo it, so youre natural course to take is to whack the lower arm to bring it down and free the balljoint from the hub, giving the nut more clearance. But once you do this, the balljoint just spins inside itself making the job nigh on impossible without removing the shaft to gain more access for a buzz gun or similar.
So you say a balljoint splitter on the underside of the hub will stop this from happening?
So you say a balljoint splitter on the underside of the hub will stop this from happening?
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It seems that the best/quickest method is to slacken the nut off the ball joint making enough room to get a hacksaw in there and cut the nut and thread off the ball joint, then whack the ball joint to free it from the hub. Then just fit the new ball joint.
Seems easier than removing a driveshaft IMO...
Seems easier than removing a driveshaft IMO...
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The best method is to use the appropriate tool tbh... 'whacking' the wishbone can damage it especially the pressed steel ones...
If you want a budget tool to replace the joint then one of these is great and you can 'whack' the hell out of that
Silverline tools Ball Joint Seperator 300 x 20mm 245041 on eBay (end time 09-Mar-11 11:44:27 GMT)
or
Ball Joint Splitter Separator Tool on eBay (end time 16-Feb-11 20:36:13 GMT)
or if you plan to reuse the ball joint at all..
TIE ROD END BALL JOINT SCISSOR TYPE SEPARATOR TOOL NEW on eBay (end time 24-Feb-11 14:12:29 GMT)
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