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Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:32 pm
by adape2003
I am about to tackle the replacement of my reluctor rings on my 2003 HDi 90 as both front ones are cracked. I will need to replace the lower ball joint retaining nut when I reassemble the suspension and the manual tells me these nuts must be replaced, but I cannot find any information. I assume they are a nylock type but does anyone know what the thread size is?

Cheers,

Adam.

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 5:10 pm
by chomerly
Not sure mate but they are definitely nylock nuts and any good fastners will stock them.

I'm pretty sure they are a universal thread size.
They may even be widely available from a good motor factors too.

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 5:27 pm
by marco2002
I had the same problem. The nut is an M12 x1.5 and its a fine pitch. If you have a look on ebay theres plenty of people of selling them or go to a nut and bolt shop.

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 5:39 pm
by adape2003
marco2002 wrote:I had the same problem. The nut is an M12 x1.5 and its a fine pitch. If you have a look on ebay theres plenty of people of selling them or go to a nut and bolt shop.
Excellent, thanks for the info. I was 50% sure it was M12 but am a lot happier now you have confirmed it. I will have a look on EBay and see what I can find.

Cheers,
Adam.

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 6:52 pm
by marco2002
They are a non preferred fit i actually took a brand new balljoint i had to a nut and bolt shop and they had m12 nuts but not a fine pitch. When i did a cv boot on my car recently i used the balljoint nut again the nylock was ok so i re-used it. Not had any problems so far. Like the haynes manual says you should use a new nut but in practice this is sometimes difficult if the nearest dealer is 25 miles away.Give it a clean up with a soft wire brush. Just common sense really if it looks knackered then replace. At least if you've got the parts beforehand you can't go wrong. Doesn't hurt to have a few spare parts....

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 7:12 pm
by adape2003
I will get some and hope they fit. If they don't the old ones will go back on. I have given both sides a preliminary dose of WD40 so it's soaking in over the week. Just ordered a pair of front discs too as I might as well do them at the same time. When I was in my twenties I used to love spannering cars and bikes. The only reason I am doing this is financial.....it's NOT for fun :cheesy:

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:03 pm
by marco2002
I know what you mean. I'm re-bushing a set of front suspension arms and its turned into a pig of job had to resort to burnng the rubber and and cutting slots with the hacksaw i'm doing it to save money can't afford to go to the garage all the time.....

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 11:26 pm
by swampyv6
i have bags of this nyloc

can supply them if required

along with almost all other nuts and bolts

Re: Lower Ball Joint Retaining Nut

Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:00 am
by adape2003
Thanks very much for your kind offer but I sourced some through work. After checking the stud diameter with a vernieer caliper they were actually M14 x 1.5mm. Anyway I now have new front discs and reluctor rings (and ABS that works again :cheesy:) and it only cost me £75, so I am a happy bunny. Did have a little fright when the near side drive shaft got dragged half out of the gearbox and started leaking transmission oil, but having popped it back in and topping up the gearbox all is working perfectly.