Balljoint replacement. - United Bimmer Community

**catalyst** · 10-01-2005, 11:47 PM

Aight im going at it tomorrow, i rented a balljoint press and i have a gear puller if that will help any..

i figure what the hell, i have these free balljoints (came with the car) so i mine as well try and get em on there instead of dishing out 200+ for all new control arms..

Dudesky if youve got anything to say i would appreciate it, im planning on just doing it the ghetto way and banging the fuck out of them till they pop out. Im hoping the gear puller may help a little, but idk.

I threw on some new rotors and pads earlier this afternoon too, so the car is going to be all tightened up and stopping well after all this.

**Spieluhr** · 10-02-2005, 01:11 AM

wish I could help out some way, good luck with this man.

**catalyst** · 10-02-2005, 03:05 PM

Well about 2 hours, a trip to sears, and 3 gashed knuckles later ive got these fucking pos balljoints seperated from the kingpins.. thank god..

Now, lol, i have a problem though.. im trying to get them out of the control arms and im having a hell of a time not destroying the inner balljoints in the process, wish me luck on this next part..

**catalyst** · 10-02-2005, 07:32 PM

Allright.. no ones really looking at this thread but i will update it anyway.. haha..

Balljoints are out of the control arms and the old CA bushings are out of the brackets.. i couldnt get the new bushings into the brackets so im waiting till tomorrow when i can get them pressed.. the balljoints should go in pretty easily i think, the tool i got looks like it will work well.

It wasnt really that hard.. just annoying as hell.. i had to bang the FUCK out of the balljoints to get them seperated from the kingpins.. i fucked up my knuckles so bad doing that.. So really the part that everyone says is so hard (removing the balljoints from the control arms after they are seperated from the kingpin) was the easiest part.

**bitcore** · 10-03-2005, 07:46 PM

interesting, I wanted to replace my ball joints but I am the type who will drop 200 extra to avoid potentially fucking up and being stranded.

**Dudesky** · 10-03-2005, 07:59 PM

Status? Did you get the CAB's in? A bench vise works well if you can get hold of one.

**catalyst** · 10-03-2005, 10:37 PM

Yea this afternoon after school, picking up my sister at school, and HW.. i got the CAB's into the brackets, used a vice to do it.. but i cant get them even on both sides of the bracket so i called around to see who had a press, and it turns out the mechanic 3 seconds down the road from me does, so hes going to press them for me 2moro for like 2 bucks each.

Balljoints arent in yet, but everythings ready to go for 2moro after i get back from school...

Hardest part by far was seperating the old balljoints from the kingpins.. no doubt.. without a pickle fork this job is a lost cause.. dont even thing about doing it without one. Overall though this shit was mad easy, you just need to use some brute force

.. and its a good way to save a couple bucks instead of buying all new control arms.

**Dudesky** · 10-04-2005, 01:45 AM

Cool. By any chance did you take pics? Would be cool to post them up. My CAB's are slightly torn, but I think they'll hold a little longer. I'm waiting because I heard a rumor that BavAuto will be selling the brackets with the CAB's preinstalled. Before winter I'll be replacing the whole control arm assembly on both sides, although my ball joints are still good. I give you props for attempting that tho . . I'm too lazy and am gonna have them preinstalled.

**catalyst** · 10-04-2005, 06:14 AM

nah no pics, my digi camera is busted.

If your going to be buying all new brackets i would shell out some more dough for these:

http://www.treehouseracing.com/home/...hop/Itemid,40/

Expensive, but worth it imo.

**xsperf** · 10-04-2005, 11:17 AM

heh, when used to do balljoints, i used this bar that was literally 6 or 7 feet long, shoved it in between and just sat on it, lol

**Dudesky** · 10-04-2005, 06:31 PM

^^^Ha ha that's funny. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- leverage is your friend

Yea, Cat, I've seen those brackets and have been thinking about trying them. I'll let all know if I end up getting them, and how they are.

**catalyst** · 10-04-2005, 10:31 PM

Well i finished it off this afternoon.. new balljoints, CAB's, rotors/pads.. and man is she tightened up now.. the steering was really getting pretty goddamn vauge with those beat up balljoints in there, and the brakes would shake like hell if braking above 80.

My car is pretty much perfect now for the winter.. new tires, brakes and suspension components.. im just going to flush the coolant next weekend and that should be it until around xmas time.

I might write up a DIY.. but it just wont be the same without pics..

**Dudesky** · 10-05-2005, 07:58 PM

How does your alignment feel after replacing the CAB's & ball joints? Will you be getting one done? I got lucky when I did my RTAB's, I was able to put the arms back dead on. Just wondering if I'll have the same luck in the front next week.

**catalyst** · 10-05-2005, 09:14 PM

The alignment seems exactly the same as before, it doesnt pull anywhere, and i got the car up to 110 this afternoon and everything was tight and again not pulling anywhere.

If your doing the whole control arm you should have 0 problems with alignment, i was careful to press the balljoints in the same position as before, using marks i made and they went in perfectly..

The control arm bushings are easy to do using a hydrolic press and there should be no problems aligning them like that, i highly recommend getting them hydrolically pressed though. I was able to get them into the brackets, but couldnt center them evenly without a real press.. and when you put the brackets back on, make sure to put them back in the same place on the control arms as before. Mine where 'bottomed out' so to speak on the control arms so i had no issues aligning them to their previous place.

Some tips for getting the CAB's on: Soak them in soap and water for 10 mins before putting them on. They were impossible for me to get on just using a little spray bottle.. i had top soak both, then they went right on with 2 or 3 good pulls.

hope that helps..

I may get an alignment, but im going to attempt to do it myself this weekend, if i fail im def. getting one though.

**Rooz** · 10-05-2005, 09:20 PM

live around NC I can get you the allignment for free...