Ball Joint Replacement, Bearing Torque

[Drg racr]

How bad is it to replace the lower ball joints on the 1st gen Ex's? Mine are getting worn. Any threads on this?
Also, what are the torque specs on the front hub bearings? I replaced mine, but they were only finger tight when I pulled the old ones. With the new ones, I used an adjustable wrench to tighten them until the wheel had resistance, then I backed off, then tightened again, then installed the keylock. I didn't use a torque wrench or socket.

 

[Maniak]

I'd have to look up teh specs for the auto hubs, but on the manual hubs, you tighten the inner nut quite a bit (I go about 20 ft lbs).. Then you back it off and then tighten it to 16 INCH pounds (I do it while spinning the rotor).

The outside nut on the manual hubs is what keeps everything together.. That one gets really tight (I can't remember teh spec, but it many foot pounds).

AutoZone has repair info on their site. The specs for the bearings will be in there.

As for ball joints, if you have the right tools and are fast, you can do it in a few hours. Last time I did the ball joints it took me 6 hours. It would problably take me that long again since its been so long since I've done them (I don't remember anything about doing it, other than having to tighten the vice down when we trying to pull the old balljoint out).

~Mark

 

[MrShorty]

I thought DeRocha had a ball joint replacement thread. The search engine here seems to work pretty well, if you haven't tried it yet.

When I did my ball joints, I just worked from the instructions in Haynes and Chiltons, and found them to be adequate for the job. Just remember you have a D35, and don't let anyone try to tell you that you might have a D28.

I can't remember which has to come off first, but I would suggest that you replace both upper and lower ball joints while you are in there. Also, because the axleshaft has to come out in the process of getting to the ball joints, now is a good time to inspect the axleshaft u-joints and replace them if they are bad.

 

[mikeinri]

Good point. Since you're taking out the axle shafts, I would recommend that you replace the u-joints regardless (unless they're really new, like less than 1 year). You'll be saving yourself a definite repair at some point down the road...

Also a good time to lube/replace the spindle bearings.

There are good threads here that cover the axle nut torque specs. Without a torque wrench, I usually just tighten the nut (while spinning the rotor) until it's pretty tight to seat the bearings, then back it off and retighten until it's "hand-tight" and I can get the key back in (auto hubs). I basically set it so the rotor spins freely with no in/out play in the rotor on the axle, and err on the side of tighter if the key doesn't line up. Insert obvious disclaimers here...

Definitely search this forum. All of these topics are covered in depth, many posts with pictures, etc.

Mike