Need to replace R/F Lower ball joint

Howdy y'all,

I have just been informed by the guys that rotated my tires that I have an R/F lower ball joint that needs to be replaced. I have no garage, a fairly limited set of tools, and some mechanical knowledge but i'm not a pro. Firestone quoted me $270 to fix it, or I could get the part for $23 and try to fix it myself. Is this a difficult task? I think I might be able to pull it off if I buy a large floor jack. Will I need to remove the shroud in the wheel well to replace the part? Greatly appreciate any input! Cheers -the pizza

Its not that its hard to get at. Its hard to separate the hub from the control arm after years of sand and salt exposure.

You really dont need any special tools except a pickle fork. Its like a giant prybar you place between hub and control arm to get them apart. Use a lot of PB Blaster to make sure you dont snap the pinch bolt off in the hub.

 

You wont have to take anything off to get to it except the wheel.

$270 is a good price. PAY the man.

 

This is a PITA job on these cars. the punch bolt will break off, or you'll crack the spindle.

 

A new OEM spindle is like $120. If I DIY, I recomend buying one for when you break yours.

 

I've been down this path with both ball joints.

 

Pay the man.

I just helped a buddy do LCA bushings and we had to pop the ball joint out. That just required a 4 ft pry bar and some basic tools. The pinch bolt came right out and this car came from several Vermont winters. I will say that the castle nut was severely oxidized.

 

it didn't seem terrible, are we talking about the same ball joint? I know Max knows his stuff so if he says so, maybe it's worth considering!

pinch bolt is a pain in the ass. by far the hardest part of the whole process. but certainly doable with the right tools/patience

Impossible to get mine out until I ordered the "Ball Tugger" tool then it came out no problem. I would have gladly paid $270 to not deal with this. Coastal New England created an impenetrable rust weld in my ball joint. I made sure to anti-seize the hell out of the ball joints when I put the new ones in.

+1 to what Max said. Pay the man. Get it done, and done correctly, and don't take a chance on busting the knuckle or bolt. If it were me and I was going to pay someone, I would ask how much better deal (suggest $475 maybe?) to do both sides and never have to deal with them again. Ball joints are kind of like headlight bulbs-when one has failed, the other is generally not too far behind. They both take the same abuse in steering, suspension movement, and drive train stress as well as being in the same shitty road conditions.

After I had the left on replaced, it began making noise about 6 months later. When they replaced it for free, they also found the right one was bad.

 

They had to pull the right spindle and have the pinch bolt drilled out.

 

Steering feels much better now.

Thanks for the heads up y'all! I really appreciate the info. I feel like I might be able to manage it with the right set of tools, but if I have Firestone do it I can use the credit card I got through them and pay it off over time.

AAAAhhhh must be great to be young.

 

Us old guy's used to do that decades ago. Now I just pay things off a couple of day's after the charge shows up on the CC.

 

I know I should wait till the bill due, I just hate seeing a balance on it.

I had 129K miles on my 08 Legacy before replacing the lower ball joints, LCAs (front and rear bushing in the front assembly) 5 winters here in VA snow, mud and sand the pinch bolts came right out, the castle nut key was fine and it took about 30 per side. I had my controls arms out to press out and in the new OEM bushing and the ball joint will fall out or tap it out with ease. I packed anti-seize back around both ball joints, the area that the pinch bolt clamps onto so the new owner wont have a problem.

 

I used:

Deep well 19mm

Open end 14mm socket

deep well 14mm

12mm socket

I believe a 17mm socket as well

Wrenches in the same size and a 1/2 drive ratchet with extension.

 

I would also get a cheat pipe in case you need the extra leverage, a big tube of anti-seize to ensure future replacement wont suck ass Worst part for me was NOT unbolting the FSB from both sides and working on one side a time. It wouldnt allow the suspension to fall down.

$270 is a good price. PAY the man.

 

This is a PITA job on these cars. the punch bolt will break off, or you'll crack the spindle.

 

A new OEM spindle is like $120. If I DIY, I recomend buying one for when you break yours.

 

I've been down this path with both ball joints.

 

Pay the man.

 

Or have mad welding skills:eek:

 

From other thread I posted in;

 

I have a spare DS front. That I had to weld up, because I broke it on weekend & winter time (roadster doesn't play in the salt & snow). Need the car for work Mon. I beveled the weld joint & welded the joint all the way around. The using a grinder, finger file & a dermal to do the machine work by hand. Drove on it for 2wks , 1200 miles, why'll waiting on new part & time to install it.

 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l293/HAMMERDOWNGT/0524120950.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l293/HAMMERDOWNGT/0524120951.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l293/HAMMERDOWNGT/0524120951a.jpg

 

Mike

Even with mad welding skills. For the piece of mind the $120 buys me. I'm glad I got a new left front spindle.

 

My friends at the local dealer had the part overnighted and they delivered to my mechanic the next morning. No charge.

 

The right front, my mechanic replaced last summer, he had the machine shop buddy, who assembled my heads on the ej257, drill the broken pinch bolt out. These two shops are about a 1000ft from each other. Its great to be on a first name basis with these guy's.

 

FWIW, you guy's out there, need to find a trusted mechanic who has contact's with other business's to get things done. Ask around the auto parts stores and see who those guys trust to work on cars.

 

I can't believe every town doesn't have its own little network of trusted mechanic's and such.

If your not mechanically inclined or don't have the tools, let the shop do it.

 

Here is how I did it, my bolt broke and I had to dig it out and the ball joint out.

Thanks for all the info, those are some really helpful posts! I ended up finding a mechanic that would do it for $170 so it didn't turn out to be really hard on the pocket-book. I might try and replace the left side on my own once the weather gets a little more conducive. Again, much thanks yall!

When you DIY, try removing the pinch bolt first, if you can get it out, the major PITA is done.

 

If not leave it alone and pay the man.

Too bad I broke mine before I could tell it's not coming out. When I do the other side I'm going to soak it in PB blaster, then MAP torch it and only then try to unscrew it.

 

What sucks is I have 3 of these to do... another one on the legacy and two on the forester.

Too bad I broke mine before I could tell it's not coming out. When I do the other side I'm going to soak it in PB blaster, then MAP torch it and only then try to unscrew it.

 

What sucks is I have 3 of these to do... another one on the legacy and two on the forester.

 

After you soak the pinch bolts thoroughly in the PB Blaster for a couple of days, take a hammer and smack the head of the bolt directly in the direction of the bolt-as though you were pounding a nail in. Hit it a couple of times and try it with a 6 point socket. Bang the ratchet with your hand in the direction to loosen it rather than trying to just crank it loose. If it doesn't come loose immediately, hit it a couple more and try it again. BE PRECISE when you hit it. If you can't get a hammer directly to it, use a large diameter drift punch or chunk of solid steel rod-a shock shaft with the ends ground off to make them square works great. Line the punch up directly in the center of the head of the bolt and smack it good.

 

The purpose of this is when you shock the threads with the hard impact like that with the penetrant on them, it allows it to work it's way inside of the threads and can also help to knock the rust and corrosion loose inside of the threaded portion.

 

Threads have to have some slight clearance when they are cut, both in the threaded hole and the threads on the bolt. This allows the threads to reopen that clearance.

 

The other option that works well too is a hammer impact driver. Set the driver to actually tighten the bolt first and smack it a couple of good times and then reset it to loosen and smack it again. This can also help to shock the threads into opening up the clearance.

Good idea there ^

The issue is rust will eat up the spaces between the threads. It's sad that Subaru used what seems to be a grade 8.8 bolt on suspension component. I personally prefer to now have it fully drilled out, allows me to use 10.9 and have a non threaded end to cut off in case it ceases again.

The issue is rust will eat up the spaces between the threads. It's sad that Subaru used what seems to be a grade 8.8 bolt on suspension component. I personally prefer to now have it fully drilled out, allows me to use 10.9 and have a non threaded end to cut off in case it ceases again.

 

That's how mine are done. I set mine up in a mill and drilled them through on purpose and also milled a flat surface on the threaded side so I had a nice bed for the nut. I used a nylock nut on it (Grade 8 available from Fastenal), plenty of anti seize, and they are easy to remove if I ever need to again.

That is some serious knowledge y'all just dropped, never thought of it that way. Again, thank you all, much respect!