Lower Ball Joint Bolt Broke... HELP

I was attempting to replace the passenger side cv shaft and when I tried to remove the lower ball joint retaining bolt... pop. Game over. I tried drilling it and using a bolt extractor and I trashed that too. How do I get this out and will a hardware store carry a bolt that will work? This wasn't a reverse thread was it?

regular bolt. if you cant extract it you can drill all the way trough and use a longer bolt (grade 8 or higher) with a nut

Nope, they are not reverse thread, but they do rust like a SOB. Get some PBlaster in there and let it soak, put a MAPP gas torch on it for a bit to heat up the knuckle. If all hope is lost on extracting it then you might be able to drill and re-tap it carefully, or drill through like MMS recommended. Might be a good idea to look for a spare knuckle though. P/N for the front right knuckle is 28313AG02A. They probably go for ~$120 new from a dealer. Contact FredBeans or m sprank@Infamous Performance and they can help you out.

Please elaborate on the longer nut theory

drill out original bolt which has threads in one half off the knuckel. now the hole goes clean through and has no threads.... put a bolt into the hole that reaches all the way trough the hole and thread a nut on the other side and tighten

http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~grant/ranger/ball%20joint/100_0189_1_1.JPG

 

as such

Gotcha. Actually someone else just suggested that. I also decided after all this happy horse sh*t to replace the ball joint. Advance auto sells a ball joint with the new pinch bolt. I think I'm gonna run a 5/16 drill bit down which won't hit the threads and try to tap the one side again. Worst case I grab a 3/8 and a longer bolt. The part I'm worried about is the smooth half of the bolt. Will that matter if I don't have that and put a nut on the other side? Seems like it's so some idiot won't over tighten it. Same idiot who snapped a bolt inside.... it's a talent to trash important parts of this car like I do so consistently.

better to just drill it out 100% and leave a clean hole. plan to not use the treads in the knuckle

Well I got the ball joint out and as fun as that was, I can't get the new one in. I destroyed the old one. It won't seat straight. Any tricks to this? no matter what I do it pitches one way or the other.

I got it to about a quarter inch left to get in. I can't get it any further. I'm ready to just drive on it til it seats.

so you got the bolt out? i would assume so if you got the first one out

Yup. Terrible. Never doin the other side. Any thoughts about seating that last lil bit?

put some pressure on the control arm with a jack while using a hammer to drive it in.

That's how I got it that far

more pressure!? is it the correct ball joint?

Correct and I jack under it and use the suspension pressure. I've been tapping it with a hammer as I go but its not moving farther. I was gonna try a c clamp but the cv shaft is in the way. I guess keep beating the control arm?

beat the shit out of it.

Guess you fix stuff my way. The American way. If it don't work use a bigger hammer.

Honestly if I drive on it will I die? Or can I use the car to kick its ass the rest of the way?

its not under load when driving, the strut is. so it may go in but it may go out. depends on the tension of the bushings i guess. but i would not advise driving on an unseated ball joint with no bolt. i would be weary of even limping a vehicle across the shop like that. the risk of damage and failure is greater then that of success.

I guess you messed my thread about, buy the knuckle and new ball joint. Spend the money up front and then have a mechanic do the work because you need an alignment anyway.

 

I had my guy replace my left ball joint and after the nightmare, had my buddies at the parts counter at the dealership deliver him the new kunckle.

 

My mechanic buddy will order a kuckle and ball joint whenever one of these cars comes in for the ball joint. It works out in less labor and cheaper to replace both parts.

 

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/ball-joint-replacement-186404.html?t=186404&highlight=ball+joint+replacement

Why an alignment?

When I was replacing my CV axle, I greased the ball joint and knuckle and I "think" it helped seating the ball joint back to knuckle. Without grease it did not seat in completely.

I used the floor jack and I also disconnected sway bay endlink.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll51/LMT16/12%20cv%20axle/IMG_0831.jpg

Why an alignment?

 

Because the new ball joint.

 

It will change the aligment. Unless something has changed since I started driving in 1970, it has been standard practise to get a alignment after major frontend work.

 

Sure as, ball joints, struts, idler arms, pitman arms.

OK. Never done it with a ball joint but it wouldn't hurt. Now I got the damn thing seated but the bolt didn't thread. Saw that coming. I don't have the nut on the other side yet but I chalk this one up to a victory.