In order to get an alignment job on my '68 Riviera, I need to R&R the lower ball joints & upper control arm bushing for SURE. Of course, everything else down there is 40 years old & getting loose, too. The shop manual says UPPER ball joint & control arm have to be replaced as a unit...yet I've found a few sales listing for upper ball joints alone. Anybody have experience yanking & replacing those suckers? I'm gonna put it up on the rack & poke around for a good look, but if anybody has do's/don'ts that'd be helpful. Thanks!!
The upper ball joints are rivited in at the factory. The ball joint can be replaced by grinding away the rivit heads. The replacement ball joint will include nuts & bolts to replace the rivits.
Kristy, the upper ball joints are welded in from the factory. That's why in the book they refer to replacing the whole upper A-Frame assembly. Replacement ball joints are available. The welds have to be cut & the new ones are usually held in with a big nut. If I were to replace them I would also put a tack weld on each side to be sure they don't come loose. Normally the upper ball joints don't go bad unless they have been negleted to be lubed over long periods of time. Just check to see if there is any play or looseness, if not leave them alone.
Good timing on that question - I am SO in the same boat (get it) as you! I've read that shop manual over and over - there is nothing in there about replacing upper ball joints OR bushings. I've just spent a few hours (and then some) trying to remove ball joints and bushings for my 69 Electra. I'm working with a complete front end from another car, all in pieces in the garage. It saves me $150-$250 to do all the prepwork before I take it to the professionals for swap/install. I'm beginning to see why. - Here's a tip: Get the ball joint press and bushing removal kit from Autozone or another local shop - just a deposit for Autozone ($140) that gets refunded when I take them back. :TU: - And here's a question: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO USE THESE DAMN THINGS??? o No: I started with the lower ball joints. Once I played with the C-clamp and associated gadgetry for a few minutes (10!) I figured out how to pop those babies right out. Moved on to the upper ball joints - NOT SO MUCH! The fit wasn't quite right no matter how I tried to set the clamp etc. up. I can't imagine trying to do this on the car. I attached a picture with the tool kit and the upper arms. Which way does the upper ball joint come out? How much of the weld do I have to grind away? Cut off wheel or deburr type tool? Put the ball joints on hold and tried the upper/lower bushings. Do these press out as well? The kit I have seems to be a "beat the hell out of it" type kit. I can't for the life of me figure out which part of the bushing to "beat the hell out of" though. Pic attached for reference. Another hour down, and it's time to go to The Forum. Sort of an asoociated question with this is about the centerlink. I thought my Kanter kit came with everything I needed but the upper control arm shafts.. Per the attached pic, is this ball joint type doo-hickey replaceable? Both ends appear to be in good shape and recently lubed. Should I consider replacing it? I don't mean to hijack your thread, Kristy. I wish I had more to offer than questions and pictures. Maybe we'll both get some direction from the veterans around here. Good luck on the R & R of your Riv.
Not too sure about that bushing removal set uzzled: . The way I always remove suspension bushings is with an air chisel. I chisel the sides in around the bushing to sort of reduce the diameter. They pop right out. I dont think your going to do them any other way. Centerlinks are not part of any suspension rebuild kit. Theyare technically part of the steering system. Centerlinks for Rivieras are long since discontinued. You are going to have to send yours out to get rebuilt if its no good. As long as the joints are tight in the link, you should be good. If you can spin the stud, its time to replace. As far as the upper ball joints, like Tom said you will need to grind the welds off to get them out.
Not sure about that bushing removal kit either - must be a newer car thing. I did some searching and found a good thread that might help out. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=56935&highlight=bushing+removal I'll put some more time into it today and see how far I get. Thanks for the tip on the centerlink - studs are nice and tight so I think I'm good to go.
good tips Thanks for all the feedback, guys! No worries on the highjack, pyro -- more info's never bad. I just did the centerlink on my Riv, because the end near the steering box was really loose. I'd hoped that'd tighten things up enough for an alignment job, but all it did was reveal other wonky areas. Can we say can o' worms?? I was able to get a brand new centerlink through Autozone, if you do wind up needing one. Grinding rivits off makes sense...my brother's '79 van's whole front end came apart that way. Anybody have secret tips for changing out bushings? I gotta hit the upper control arm bushings for sure. I was eyeing that Kanter kit too -- anybody happen to have photos of those bits? Do they seem like quality replacements? Thanks!!
Will post pics on the Kanter kit later today. How much did you pay for the centerlink? Both ends are tight but I can sping one of the studs ( the one with grease nipple in the side). That's not a good thing, I think.
centerlink Autozone had a centerlink listed for ~$80, but when I went to order it, turned out in was "unavailable." So, I went w/ the next-best, ran me $175 total after tax. It was a new part made by Rare Parts, autozone part # 25836. The centerlink I replaced still had a solid spindle on the passenger side, but driver's was shot to crap. The Rareparts centerlink received the seal of approval from the old shop tycoon @ work that installed it for me, so I know it's decent hardware.
Guys, dont forget to replace the strut rod bushings. Otherwise known as the brake reaction rod bushings. When those bushings get loose, they make the car wander all over the road. To replace bushings you're going to have to get ahold of an air chisel. See my prior post about it
Another thing guys that can give you that wandering all over the road is the rear panhard rod bushings. It helps to stabilize the rear end. PST has them in "Poly" & since there is very little movement they won't squeak.
can o' worms... oh man, I KNEW this was gonna snowball on me...and I haven't even taken anything apart yet! thanks for all the feedback & tips, though, guys!!
Here are pics of the Kanter kit. It all looks as solid as the original parts I've taken out, except the end link kit. Is it me or does it have import written all over it?
Had some fun with the grinder last night as well. Didn't make much progress though. I'm afraid of getting too trigger happy and ruining the upper arm. Guys, am I headed the right direction here with breaking the weld? o No: It's hard to tell if I'm grinding weld, ball joint, or A arm. Haven't ground any finger or wrist yet so I've done something right!
Kanter kit Thanks for the Kanter photos, Pyro! Has anybody reported trouble from using Kanter's stabilizer link kit? That's the one you said looked a little hinky, right? You're a step ahead of me in the beat-em-out-of-the-control-arms phase...let me know if they pop out OK once the welds are ground down. Did you have any trouble w/ the lower ball joints?
I took the stabilizer link kit into the shop that's going to do the work. They said the kits looked fine and I had nothing to worry about. The centerlink I showed them (from the 70 Wildcat) was a different story - has to be replaced. Autozone $135 for the Rare Parts version plus $100 for a core (which I have). I finished the disassembly of the control arms last night. Once the welds are ground down, one ball joint came out easy and one did NOT. The lowers were a snap - the first thing I completed out of the whole processs. The upper bushings (4 total) were'nt too bad - I had to drill out the rubber on one end and the rest came out pretty easily. The lower bushings had even more rubber to drill out and I had to get creative with a grinder and a 1 1/16th socket to get these out. There is A LOT of rubber packed in those bushings! Ended up with upper/lower arms and upper shafts ready for the sandblaster, as well as sore arms, sore back, and a HUGE mess on the floor of the garage. I still can't imagine doing all this on the car, but I can see how it would afford some leverage that I did not have. I'll bet overall just disassembling I've got 6 or 7 hours of work. Not the most efficient job but dammit I got 'r done! Pics of the aftermath... BTW, I can't figure out how to remove the rubber piece on each of the control arms. Easiest to see in the pic of the uppers - just aside from where the ball joint used to be. What are these called? Any trick to removing them intact or can I just tear them off and get replacements?
great photos Thanks for posting all the pics, Pyro -- it's really gonna help to know what I'm looking for ahead of time!
