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Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:06 pm

so im in the middle of removing my front end to cut and turn it.

and on the drivers side lower torsion arm im removing a nut, its going fine until theres about a quarter inch left and the bolt just starts turning with the nut,
this also just happened right after i found out my spark plug holes have been striped, maybe im not thinking straight cuz im frustrated but what should i do about a nut that turns with the bolt?

pictures of the problem

im gonna go to the gym to work out this frustration, ill be back later tonight with my shoplight to see if i cant handle this thinking a little more clearly

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:13 pm

I would try to twist the spindle (rearward) as far as I could to put some side pressure on that ball joint. This should provide just enough tension to get the nut off.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:21 pm

put the pickle fork in to put pressure on the balljoint stud. you also could put the pickle fork between the brake backing plate and trailing arm to apply lateral pressure. with the top balljoint out, you can use a long extension and impact from above. it already looks like you hit it with the PB blaster but if you tighten the nut back on then you can clean the threads with a little wire brush.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:03 pm

Like pafree said put the pickle fork in smack it once and hit it with the air wrench , bet it comes right off....

Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:23 pm

Put the upper control arm back in the spindle...place a jack under the lower control arm, jack it up against the torsion bars a little (making sure not to upset whatever is holding the car up)...try to remove nut again.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:13 pm

Ball joints are probably shot and should be replace anyway. Just throw a set of vice grips on the shaft to hold it and remove the nut.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:03 pm

where do i get new ball joints? ive never seen them on any website. also i need 2 new little rubber booties too.

yeah id assume if the ball joint spins with the nut theres probably something wrong with it. just dreading replacing the ball joint along with everything else i have to do and still being ready by the beginnning of thanksgiving break when my friends get out of school (i wanna take them to the desert, most of them have never been.... sad city kids).

also, an air wrench? someone is unfamiliar with my style, i pulled my engine with a skateboard, i have 7 cinderblocks i use as jackstands, my rubber gloves and mask were taken from the trash at childrens hospital (they were still in the box and everything! why would you just throw those things out?)i am pretty ghetto with this car because i have like 30 dollars left in the budget and i need sheet metal to fix the pan, and maybe new spark plug threads in my head, and to rent a welder for a day or 2.... oh and headlights....

haha.... damn

Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:23 pm

nevermind
http://www.mooreparts.com/store/category/8/33/Ball-Joints-King-%26-Link-Pins/
i have seen the ball joints listed before.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:17 pm

if your going to all the work of the old cut and rotate method why not just weld some adjusters in? theres hardly any extra work involved

atleast then your front end is adjustable, your not stuck at one height which could end up too low or high

Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:35 pm

you really think so?
i was thinking about ordering adjusters with this brake line i need, there only like 14 bucks as far as i can see.

i got a vw guy im gonna talk to tomorrow about what to do with the ball joint cuz all be damned if i didn't try every trick that was posted except for the vice grip one.

what do you mean too high or too low? do they really make a difference?

Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:50 pm

cut and rotate is a very old school method
its been ages since i had anything to do with one but from memory turning the grub screw on the top beam so it faces the lower beam gives roughly 2" drop but it can be real hit and miss, weaker torsion bars could make it more or it could end up less

atleast with ajusters you can alter it at any time say for instance you get some wider tyres which rub only with a passenger and you wanna raise 1/2" its easy with adjusters, not possible with cut and turn

hope that helps some

Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:42 am

74vwbuglove wrote: where do i get new ball joints? ive never seen them on any website. also i need 2 new little rubber booties too.

I'd suggest ordering new ball joints instead of trying to replace the ball joint boots. I ordered some of those boots. When they came the plastic bag they were in looked to be 40yrs old. The boots were flexible and I only ripped one putting then on. 6-months later all of them had cracked and grease was everywhere.

Make sure you can find a machine shop with a BIG hydraulic press. I've heard of ball joints that have broken 10-ton presses.

If you can't find someone, consider ordering the rebuilt trailing arms from Wolfgang International.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:57 am

damn okay, haha i shouldnt have even touched my front end if i wanted to go off roading in the next week or 2.
better i fix all this now than have to fix it 300 miles from home though.

gonna just use a vice grip today, hopefully that'll work.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:00 am

74vwbuglove wrote: damn okay, haha i shouldnt have even touched my front end if i wanted to go off roading in the next week or 2.
better i fix all this now than have to fix it 300 miles from home though.

gonna just use a vice grip today, hopefully that'll work.

Apply some heat to the nut if needed.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:26 pm

well i tried a combination of everyones ideas and the nut is now about 1/4 of the way off. which is about a half an inch of improvement, however i decided to just take out the torsion arms where they connect to the front beam (decided to not be so dumb and take it apart the right way) so i haven't had to deal with this nut as of yet.

my current plan is to just tighten it down when im all finished and deal with it some other time. My plans for the next month is to get a new front beam anyways so im not that worried about it.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:03 pm

Hacksaw

Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:06 pm

saw the nut off? no i want to back the nut back onto the bolt at this point, then replace the ball joint the next time i tear it apart.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:36 pm

Saw a screwdriver slot into the top of the stud...then use a screwdriver to keep it from turning - I've had to do this on other things, but never a BJ, you got yourself a worthy opponent. :lol:

I did four spindles tonight, the whole time I felt bad for you.

Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:26 am

The ball joint is what is spinning on you. Where the stud of the ball joint goes through the lower control arm, there is a tappered hole. The stud is also tappered.

That tapper locks the stud in place. You have released the stud from the tapper in the arm, so the stud is spinning.

In order to get this to move - either to remove it, or tighten it, you need to get the tapper to seat again.

Since at this point you want to put things back together, put the upper arm back on.

Then put your floor jack under the lower arm and jack it up until the tapper seats. You may need to use a block of wood and a BIG hammer to wham the ear on the spindle down onto the tapper.

Once you get the tapper to seat, it will lock in place and you can turn the nut.

Once you have things back together, you will need to do a front end alignment because you have disturbed the eccentric that controls caster and camber and also the tie rod ends which control toe.

And you need to re-weld the bracket for the brake line that you wrecked as well as replace the rubber flex hose and steel line.

Ain't this FUN?

Next time, you need to really think about what you want BEFORE you jump in and make a mess.

If you have the right tools and understand how things work, then it's not so difficult. but if you are short on either of those things, the job can get over your head quickly!

Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:34 am

If the dude is using cinder blocks for stands, he's not likely to need new ball joints or adjusters either. Maybe an emergency room :roll: