Lower ball joint

The lower ball joint has a hard life – it takes all the road shocks as well as the spring and damper load. Inevitably, it wears out. This often results in a groaning noise from the front. If it’s really worn, the car will wander at speed. Other things can cause this, but replacing the joint is a good starting point. Replacement is seemingly straightforward, but it’s probably easier with the proper factory tools. This is my DIY method:

1. Slacken the wheel nuts, jack and support the car and remove the road wheel.
2. Remove the split pin and nut from the bottom ball joint.
3. Separate the joint from the upright with a proper ball-joint splitter. Use some steering lock to improve access, and jack up the lower arm to free the joint (see photo).  
4. Remove the small retaining nut from the top of the joint.
5. There is a proper tool to extract the joint. However, I managed to remove it with *careful* use of a cold chisel between the joint flange and the suspension arm. With patience (and penetrating oil) it should free eventually.
6. Clean out the hole for the joint, and fit the new one. Now for the tricky bit. You CAN use the stud on the top to draw the joint into place, but I’m sure you’re meant to use a puller or something. If you do use the stud, be very careful not to use too much force, otherwise it’ll snap off. Yes, I found this out the hard way.At the very least, use a smaller spanner Note that there’s a slight gap around the joint flange when it’s in position.
   John Wilson suggested a much better method:

   “I couldn’t get it to go the last 3 mm with any sort of ease, so I re-assembled the joint completely and then used a coil spring compressor to keep tension on the joint while I tightened the top one fully. (Half a turn on the coil spring compressor and a quarter of a turn on the top nut, repeat until done). Worked a treat.”

    

7. Re-attach the upright, and replace the ball joint nut and split pin.
8. Replace the roadwheel.
9. Lower the car, and torque the wheel nuts fully.