hi ! Im about to replace the upper ball joints to get the veichle on the roads for the spring... And speaking of spring :grin: ... Do I have to unload the springs before I take of the joint or is it "unloaded" I dont wanna have a hole in my face or anything like it Maybe this is a dumb question, but - :Smarty: - better safe than sorry -
The spring is between the lower control arm and the frame. If you put a jack under the lower control arm and jack it up, you can remove the entire upper control arm and replace the joint.
No questions are dumb! Dumb is not asking. The front springs are under a great deal of pressure and if you dont exercise basic safety precautions, they injury could potentially be fatal. You probably dont need to remove the control arm from the vehicle. If you do, note the number of shims on each of the bolts. The shims maintain the caster and camber of the wheel. If the ball joint has been replaced previously, it will be bolted in. If its the original, then it will have 4 rivets. You'll need to drill the rivets and remove the heads with a small chisel.
oops! Just noticed that its a 69 Electra! Those ball joints are tack welded in. The replacements have a large nut that gets tightened to secure them in place. They're a little harder to do than the smaller cars.
Tnx for the tip. Was thinking about using a ..hmm.. dont know the english word for it...a "decease-tool" for the spring, but this would do the same work... so true, so true That was kind of my thougt... Have seen pictures of what kind of damage this could do if you're loosing the "wrong" nuts. a little OT, Why did they weld it ???
Most of the Electras , Wildcats and Le Sabres were spot welded from the factory . You grind off the spot weld and press the old ball joint out . Press the new ball joint in place and spot weld it again . That is the way it is done . I did this to my 68 LeSabre and it worked out well . If you do not spot weld them in when you install the new ones they will not hold . p :TU:
--- conclude the replacement --- The ball joint was replaced on the right side. horray and joy. One down, one to go, I thought and moved on... The car was raised and the tire removed. Damn was greasy... But okey, I knew that a hose from the steering servo was broken. ... And guess what the oil does to the rubber on the bushing :rant: Jumped into the winter car, away to the partstore. New bushings... "Tomorrow", he replies :blast: The bushings where replaced last weekend. Now what to do... If one side is replaced... take the other side too... Again. lifted the right side, and disassemble, the parts i just assembled. So ,Heres a little tip... before you replace the balljoints, check the bushings - both sides - you could save time and a lot of bad words ----
