Help bottom ball joint. How do I stop hub rotating?

[c.morewood]

Subject says it all really.. I was working outside in the sunshine .. but its too bright to see under the hub ... so grab a bit of lunch and mover her inside and trya again.. i've tried heat and a cold chisel.. none worked ..I can't get enought purchase on the socket as the hub wants to rotate around the track rod and pull the drive shaft out.. there must be an easy way of doing it?

[KennyW]

Chris,

When I have done the bottom ball joint I have removed the hub assembly, put it in a vice and
removed it from there with the assistance of my trusty scaffolding pole.

Sometimes with the application of a little heat.

Kenny

[c.morewood]

After a couple of hours of struggling I found this video..
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
after watching it, it was simple.. done in 20 minutes.
Thank you Gordon.

[qprdude]

Fascinating video. Straight to the point. No gloves or too many fancy tools. I had to watch it all the way through.Good to see the job actually being done, rather than a few photos in a Haynes manual.

[NewcastleFalcon]

It might have been nice to hear a dramatic crack as the Ball joint, gave in. The sort of crack which makes you wonder just what has broken-the socket/ the wrench, the entire hub. It was all so underwhelming in terms of noise when it finally gave way. The threads of the old joint were clean as a whistle, so I hope it wasn't a case of here's one which I slackened earlier!

Neil

[addo]

They're clean here when cracked apart the first time.

For ease of removal, try this: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... _ID=737592" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sparksie]

Ok
A couple of observations, though.
That's a BIG extension he's using on his half inch breaker bar and all but the very best will not put up with it. Far better to invest in 3/4" stuff for jobs like that. Secondly, he appears to place a lot of trust in the hydraulic seals in his jack. Never do that! It WILL fail, sooner or later. If you don't have proper stands, use baulks of wood to support the car.
Finally, the splitter he used was very similar to the S-P one I broke while trying to separate the joint on Cit, before resorting to a hydraulic puller.
Those few points aside, a very informative video and well worth having access to.
Thanks for the link

[evilally]

I usually find for the sake of an extra 20 minutes, just drop the strut out and put it in a vice. Safer, easier, and a good opportunity to check condition of drop links etc. The new one also needs torqued up very tight (250nm I think?), also better done in a vice.

I used to use a scaffold pole and there would be a lot of drama when the joint let go. However the last couple, I've just given it a light heat, put as much torque on it as I can with the torque wrench, then holding the torque, strike the cast with a hammer just below the joint. The shock does the rest of the work for you, much less effort and strain on the wrench.

[c.morewood]

I think the trick was to use the old nut on the removal socket to stop it slipping off the ball joint as well as using the rachet tie downs to hold the hub.. there was no crack..it just loosened nice and soothly.. I was very surprised ... and relieved.