Front end rebuild questions

[n51hj]

Ive got the front suspension out of my '68. I'd like to completely disassemble it to clean it up and powdercoat. How do I get the ball joints out of the A-arms where they attach to the spindle? There's some play in the lower one. Who has rebuild kits?. How do I tell if I've got too much wear in the bearings on the cross-members of the A-arms?

Thanks in advance,

[S Allen]

I am doing this to a '69 frame for the SR20 swap. The ball joints are bolted on to the a-arms and the spindles. There are four bolts holding each one on the A-frames and one big nut holding each ball joint to the spindle assembly. There are not any rebuild kits for them. There should be zero play in them. New ball joints are very pricy. $150.00 to $200.00 each?? You can order a complete eurathane boot kit from Dean at Fairlady Products. He also sells a eurathane replacement spring seat. I pulled everthing out of my front end. Some of it takes a liitle heat and several whacks from ball peen hammers to bust loose. I am in the process of bead blasting, priming with Eastwoods Corroless, and then using their chassis black paint. I did my 67.5 with these products and it is still holding up 4 years later. Good luck.

Steve

[Wrenchands]

You can rent the tools necessary to take everything apart from almost any car parts store. Using the correct tools makes it a lot easier, and there is less chance of ruining an important part. I just rented these tools last week for $5, and it was worth every cent. Good luck.

[itsa68]

Tried a puller a few times but they always seemed to be a pain.
I've never had a problem by backing off the joint castle nut flush to its stud top, and getting a buddy to back up the opposite side of the spindle with a 2 lb hammer or large block of steel. Usually takes two small ball peen raps against the side of the spindle towards the backup hammer and one flat hit to the top of the nut to pop out the joint from its taper.
Never used any heat and never used big force to dent the spindle surfaces.
Seem to always work for me.

Ray B.

[Datsundude]

Why rent? you can buy it just under $10 bucks at your local auto parts store or if you live in California you can go to AutoZone, they loan out
tool for free (no charge), I borrowed from AutoZone. This tool is call ball joint separator it looks like a giant fork…
I tried reversing the spindle nut and hammering it, it did not do the job for me but at the same time it ruins the nut.
Dude, don’t risk it use the proper tool for this task, I learned it the hard way. Good luck

Question?
How can you tell if the lower ball joint is still good or worn out? Is it supposed to be tight? in my case the ball joint is loose, you can
easily turn it left, right and side to side with out any efforts but it does not look like it’s worn out.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ben (Datsundude)

[SLOroadster]

jack up the car and see if the wheels will move in the wrong direction (no side to side play) You should be able to tell if its moving a direction that it shouldn't.

Will

[Datsundude]

Will,
thanks for responding and info.
I already dismantle the lower ball joint and now it is on my hand, how can I check to see if it still good? Like I said it is loose, when I have it on my hand and shake it back and forth side to side you can see the ball joint will move easily with out any effort but it does not look like worn out at the ball joint, and I have clean all the grease out.

thanks for the help.

Ben (Datsundude)

[itsa68]

Place the cast legs in a bench vise and attach a dial gauge with a magnetic base to the vice.
Put the ball stud at center postion and align dial gauge plunger down the centerline of the ball stud and have the stud end depress plunger to a starting dial reading.
Move the ball stud towards and away from the the gauge to depress and extend the plunger.
Check the total sweep of the dial when you do this.
If your getting around .050" or more end play, you might want to start looking for new joints.
Also try the play when the joint stud is positioned approx 30 degree towards or away from the attachment legs, because you will see more play at these positions.

Hope this helps.

Ray B.

[Datsundude]

Thanks Ray,
This is great tech info and should help me alot, as soon I get the dial gauge and do the measurement
to see if it good or bad, I will keep you posted.

thanks again
Ben (Datsundude)