Oh no! Did I break my ball joint?

[speedgraphic]

After pressing in my new passenger side ball joint yesterday, I noticed it seemed sort of loose - I couldn't move the spindle of the ball joint in my hands before installation, but after installation I could move around the other side of the joint relatively easily. My question - is it possible to destroy or damage a ball joint during installation, causing this sort of failure? If so, how do you know how far to press it in?

[dlb]

you don't press a ball joint in, it just bolts to the steering hub. unless you inadvertently bashed the hell out of it with a hammer or something it should be fine. as long as the joint still feels snug and does not flop around, it should be good. sloppy is bad, but too tight is also bad. right in the middle is good.

[speedgraphic]

Ergh, OK. I'm referring to pressing it into the LCA - so I shouldn't have done that? How would you describe the degree of tightness I should feel? Be as creative as you like, hehe. Note that it's already pressed into the LCA, so I'd be flopping around the side that bolts into the hub.

[dlb]

due to corrosion and dirt buildup, it might be a snug fit to the control arm but if it's that bad you should scour all the crap off the control arm before you put the ball joint on. it should simply bolt to the control arm with two 14 mm bolts. what do you mean exactly when you say you pressed it in?

[speedgraphic]

due to corrosion and dirt buildup, it might be a snug fit to the control arm but if it's that bad you should scour all the crap off the control arm before you put the ball joint on. it should simply bolt to the control arm with two 14 mm bolts. what do you mean exactly when you say you pressed it in?

I just pressed the ball joint (and that one bolt that takes a castellated nut) downwards into the control arm with a C-clamp, with the hub removed, then secured it with the castellated nut and a cotter pin. The hub is still removed. I don't *think* this would damage it since the ball joint is a pretty serious load bearing component, but just after people saying how firm ball joints should be, just wanted to make sure I'm not going to fly off the road if the joint breaks.

[speedgraphic]

Alright, that question aside...

I just installed my new strut insert on my '86 Terc! I'm mounting it back on the car now, but the strut comes down an inch or two too far to slide into the steering knuckle. The hub/knuckle is only bolted onto the bottom ball joint now.

Should I try connecting the knuckle to the strut first, and then try prying the ball joint into place, or should I use a jack to compress the strut the inch or two to try to make it match up with the knuckle?

Or am I on the wrong path?

(btw, THANKS DLB!!! and everyone else here)

[xirdneh]

you must be talking about the tie rod end
the ball joint does not have a cotter pin or castellated nut

[speedgraphic]

you must be talking about the tie rod end
the ball joint does not have a cotter pin or castellated nut

No, I'm talking about the bottom of the ball joint, as installed in the control arm. There's a castellated nut on one end, and two 14mm bolts that bolt into the hub/knuckle at the other end. Am I referring to this piece by the wrong name?

[teranfirbt]

No, you have it right.
Because of the cone interface of the ball joint on the Tercel, you don't have to press them in. I'd have to look, but it's possible that by using the C-clamp you have damaged the ball joint (they aren't designed to take very much load in that direction).

As for installing the strut, don't forget that the sway bar will be setting the height of the control arm with the strut removed. Are both sides of the car in the air?

[speedgraphic]

Damn. I'm pretty new to this, so - what direction DOES the ball joint take load in?

Yes, the front of the car is in the air on both sides. Would it help if I put the other side down, or is there another way to make the knuckle and the strut meet?

[dlb]

IIRC, when i put the steering knuckle back on, i slide the outer end of the CV shaft through the hub, then rest the ball joint in its home in the control arm, and then wrestle the knuckle into position with the strut. it's a little tricky and does take a bit of force but once the holes are lined up i slide the bolts through the knuckle/strut. then i connect the tie rod and bolt it all up. be careful to not swing the lower portion of the strut around too much. i find the strut mounts are one of the weakest points in the tercel's front end so i try not to put too much strain on them when getting the knuckle back in place.

keep it up SG, it's a PITA at first but after a few times you get your own routine down and it's breeze.

[speedgraphic]

Update! I was successfully able to get the passenger side front end completely back together, thanks to everybody.

Since I already had the ball joint bolted to the knuckle and the control arm, and the CV axle through the hub, I was able to pull the knuckle all the way away from the car (as far as the ball joint would go), and then tug on the strut a bit to get it to clear the CV boot. Once I was able to insert the bottom bolt, I just pushed on the knuckle towards the car - it was just the force needed to push the control arm lower and allow me to line up the other strut bolt hole. And - no holes in my new CV boot, how about that?

[Petros]

been away from the intenet for a few days. This sounds confusing, it is not that much work to change the ball joints if you do it in the correct order; removed the two 14mm bolts that go upward into the bottom of the steering knuckle, than pull the steering knuckle out of the way (use a pry bar to free it), remove the castle nut off the bottom of the control arm that holds the ball joint taper in place. Whack the end of the control arm hard with a large hammer (may take several blows), and the taper pops free. You do not need to press the new ball joint back in, you simply tighten the castle nut to torque spec, it sucks the taper back in tight (no clamp or press required).

The ball joint should be fine, impact loads on the ball joint can be in any direction and are likely much larger than you can do with a clamp. As long as there is no detectable play or slop in the ball joint it is good. New ball joints are stiff and difficult to move, but once it becomes easier to move does not mean it is bad. You should be fine.