Good evening lads,
I am having to change my lower ball joint in the front hub of my 1998 406 due to mot failure grrrrrrrrr.
The problem I have is it's the type that is screwed I to the hub and the stud into the wish bone.
I would like to know if anyone can do thus with out taking the hole hub assembly off the car if possible.
I know you need a special tool to get this off and told some one has it luckily I can get a lone of it.
Any ideas on how easy this will be?
Lower ball joint
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Re: Lower ball joint
I just done both of mine I had to heat mine and use a big hammer and chisel or pair of stil sons that's how I done mine and done it on the car just remove ur disks gives u more room to do it and get the car as high as u can and wen tightening make sure u hit arounds with chisel midsmike had some come loose
2.1 glx p reg d9 half leather electric seats d9 centre console leather steering wheel front lag splitter de badged front end strut brace all grey bits of interior is now black
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
Re: Lower ball joint
If you are going to do this job, remember the bottom ball joint will be covered in caked muck, so clean it before you start and you will see that the nut is fastened in place by a washer with flanges or splines . These splines or flanges are bent over the sides of the nut to hold the nut in place, you will need to bend them back so you can get a large socket on the nut. so many people try to stilson the nut off with the holding washer still in place.
Be sure you have the correct bottom ball joint for your model. My 2001 406 Hdi has a choice of two different diameter threads on the ball joint and mine is the wider thread. You can guess which one I bought cant you
Best if luck, its not too bad a task, but give yourself plenty of time.
Be sure you have the correct bottom ball joint for your model. My 2001 406 Hdi has a choice of two different diameter threads on the ball joint and mine is the wider thread. You can guess which one I bought cant you
Best if luck, its not too bad a task, but give yourself plenty of time.
Re: Lower ball joint
The ball joint don't come with a bolt head it's a circul with 3 cut outs u can buy the special socket to fit these but I didn't
2.1 glx p reg d9 half leather electric seats d9 centre console leather steering wheel front lag splitter de badged front end strut brace all grey bits of interior is now black
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
Re: Lower ball joint
I guess we need to know which model we are talking about here on my 2001 406 Hdi 2.0L the bottom ball joint comes with a nut head (6 sides) and a washer to fast hold it. Did mine yesterday. Other models must have different fastenings.
Re: Lower ball joint
I got a 98 model and there the same as I explained I would have thought the change was with the face lift 406 I could be wrong
2.1 glx p reg d9 half leather electric seats d9 centre console leather steering wheel front lag splitter de badged front end strut brace all grey bits of interior is now black
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
Things to do finish off fitting leather door cards,coil overs,window tint, fit wolfrace wheels with 20 mm spacers 225.45.17 and the list will continue
-
ColinCranwell
- 1.8 16v
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:53 pm
Re: Lower ball joint
I did this last year on both lower balljoints, on 1996 406.
I have also done it in the past on a 1.9 citreon ZX which has the same arrangement.
If it is the lower balljoint you are talking about, it is a beast of a job. Mainly because the threads are poor and the balljoint will fight you the whole way.
The Citreon took me by suprise and I couldn't shift it but luckily I was working a bottling hall which had a well equiped workshop. The fitters there managed to get the ball joint out but it took a lot of heat and a scaffold pole.
When I did the 406 I recognised it from the Citreon. I took the whole assembly off, (it doesn't take that long), and took it down to a local back st. garage and they did the rest, and put the new ball joint in the assembly.
The special socket you can get off ebay for £10-15. It is good enough for an occassional DIY job but not professional standard.
If it is an old car, I would think about doing the wheel bearing, drop links at the same time, seeing you have everything off.
Regards,
Colin.
I have also done it in the past on a 1.9 citreon ZX which has the same arrangement.
If it is the lower balljoint you are talking about, it is a beast of a job. Mainly because the threads are poor and the balljoint will fight you the whole way.
The Citreon took me by suprise and I couldn't shift it but luckily I was working a bottling hall which had a well equiped workshop. The fitters there managed to get the ball joint out but it took a lot of heat and a scaffold pole.
When I did the 406 I recognised it from the Citreon. I took the whole assembly off, (it doesn't take that long), and took it down to a local back st. garage and they did the rest, and put the new ball joint in the assembly.
The special socket you can get off ebay for £10-15. It is good enough for an occassional DIY job but not professional standard.
If it is an old car, I would think about doing the wheel bearing, drop links at the same time, seeing you have everything off.
Regards,
Colin.
1996 1.9 TD Executive
250,000miles (August 2012)
250,000miles (August 2012)
Re: Lower ball joint
Recently done both my lower balljoints and it is indeed a bitch of a job.
I would definitely recommend taking the hub off the car. Probably took about 20 minutes to remove the hub and mount in a vice although a novice to the job will take nearer 1-2 hours with Haynes as a guide.
Once the hub was mounted in the vice it took me probably two hours (not constant effort) to get the balljoint out. Before you attempt to undo the balljoint make sure you've knocked out both bits of preening - when the balljoint was installed part of the metal surface of it is punched into a crevise on the hub to lock it in to position and prevent it from undoing. You will not get it undone without knocking back the metal tab (preening)!
Next I begun by heating the metal around the balljoint with a blow torch for a few minutes - do not heat the balljoint as the grease gets very hot and pressure can build up until the grease explodes out of the little boot (not big, not clever). I then used Comma Frost Bite on the balljoint to help it contract. Heating the hub to cause it to expand and then cooling the area around the balljoint to cause it to contract eventually breaks the rust seal that is holding the balljoint into the hub. I think I repeated this process three or four times over 90 minutes interspersed with other jobs. Periodically I used a cold chisel to try and knock the balljoint round with a bit of a love tap (do not over do this, and don't use a cold chisel if you intend on resuing the balljoint - although if you were why would you be removing it?).
Eventually the balljoint will come out with minimum physical effort. To reinstall the balljoint I had the sealey tool (which is more than up to the job and takes a hell of a beating) and I used lots of copper grease. I cleaned the flat mated surface of the hub with a small file and greased that with copper grease, then I put copper grease all over the threads on the balljoint. My torque wrench only went up to 210Nm so I had to use a breaker bar to guesstimate it up to the necessary 240Nm. Once installed I knocked the new preening into the crevice - job done!
Think I'll write this up as a bit of a how to at the weekend and I am doing my o/s driveshaft - will spend a bit of extra time showing how to get the hub off - unless it's already been done? Might make a debut on the knowledgebase!
I would definitely recommend taking the hub off the car. Probably took about 20 minutes to remove the hub and mount in a vice although a novice to the job will take nearer 1-2 hours with Haynes as a guide.
Once the hub was mounted in the vice it took me probably two hours (not constant effort) to get the balljoint out. Before you attempt to undo the balljoint make sure you've knocked out both bits of preening - when the balljoint was installed part of the metal surface of it is punched into a crevise on the hub to lock it in to position and prevent it from undoing. You will not get it undone without knocking back the metal tab (preening)!
Next I begun by heating the metal around the balljoint with a blow torch for a few minutes - do not heat the balljoint as the grease gets very hot and pressure can build up until the grease explodes out of the little boot (not big, not clever). I then used Comma Frost Bite on the balljoint to help it contract. Heating the hub to cause it to expand and then cooling the area around the balljoint to cause it to contract eventually breaks the rust seal that is holding the balljoint into the hub. I think I repeated this process three or four times over 90 minutes interspersed with other jobs. Periodically I used a cold chisel to try and knock the balljoint round with a bit of a love tap (do not over do this, and don't use a cold chisel if you intend on resuing the balljoint - although if you were why would you be removing it?).
Eventually the balljoint will come out with minimum physical effort. To reinstall the balljoint I had the sealey tool (which is more than up to the job and takes a hell of a beating) and I used lots of copper grease. I cleaned the flat mated surface of the hub with a small file and greased that with copper grease, then I put copper grease all over the threads on the balljoint. My torque wrench only went up to 210Nm so I had to use a breaker bar to guesstimate it up to the necessary 240Nm. Once installed I knocked the new preening into the crevice - job done!
Think I'll write this up as a bit of a how to at the weekend and I am doing my o/s driveshaft - will spend a bit of extra time showing how to get the hub off - unless it's already been done? Might make a debut on the knowledgebase!