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Replacing the front lower ball joints on a Rover 800
1. Slacken the front roadwheel nuts, jack
up the car and remove the wheels.
Press out the plastic trim in the middle of the wheels, relieve the
staking on
the hub nuts and refit the wheels to the car. Hand tighten the wheel
nuts until
the wheel is secure in place.
2. Lower the car, apply the footbrake using an assistant or some
other means (I use a torque wrench case pressed against the
pedal by moving the front seat forwards against it) and remove the hub
nuts using a 32mm deep impact socket (3/4 inch drive) and long breaker
bar. It may be necessary to use a scaffold pole or some other extension
to
the breaker bar to allow extra force to be applied as the hub nuts will
be
very tight.
3. Jack the car back up and support it on stands. Remove the roadwheels
and
undo the slackened hub nuts.
4. Undo the 3 small bolts holding the ABS sensor leads and brake pipes
to the upper suspension arm, being careful not to shear them. Relieve
the pressure on the brake pedal and remove the brake calipers (using a
17mm spanner to stop the caliper guide pins from turning), supporting
them so the brake pipes are not strained by the calipers' weight. Remove
the caliper carriers (2 x 18mm bolts). Remove the ABS sensors (2 x 10mm
bolts). Use a marker pen to note the location of the brake disks
relative to
the hubs then remove the them (2 x crosshead screws). Note the side of
the car which each of the brake disks, caliper carriers and pads came
from.
5. Undo the lower balljoint nut (22mm), upper balljoint nut
(17mm) and
steering trackrod balljoint nut (17mm - pull the split pin out with
pliers
first). Using a balljoint scissor splitter, press each of the joints'
stems out
of the tapered hole. For the very large lower balljoint it is likely
that you
will need to widen the splitter's gape with a hacksaw, but it will
still be
useable for the smaller joints when this has been done (so long as it
is only
widened as much as need be).
The Jaws of Life...
... made wider with a
hacksaw to fit around the large lower balljoint.
6. Separate the hub assembly from the
balljoints and tap the driveshaft
out through the hub using (e.g.) a socket extender. Remove the hub
assembly
from the car.
7. Remove the circlip from the lower balljoint. This is
best done using the
holes in each end of the clip - place a small screwdriver in one hole
and use
it to initially lift that end of the clip above the edge of the groove
it is located
in. While holding it there, use another small screwdriver to get behind
the
circlip and press it away from the hub, onto the edge of the groove.
Keeping
the second screwdriver behind the circlip, work your way around it
edging it out of the grove. Remove the clip from the balljoint when
finished.
8. Locate the hub assembly on soft ground with the hub nut studs
pressing
into it, put the balljoint stem nut back onto the stem by a few turns
(but
not so many that the stem thread appears through it, then hit the nut
hard and
continually using a heavy hammer. This will press the balljoint out of
its hole
in the hub assembly, but it is a very tight fit and it may take several
minutes
of extremely hard blows before any sign of movement is seen. The nut
will
act as a load spreader to stop the stem from being mushroomed by the
hammer, nonetheless it may not be instantly recognisable when the joint
is finally
pressed out.
Resistance is futile...
9. Locate the new balljoint in the hole in the hub assembly and lift it
all into a bench vice. Place one jaw of the vice behind the
balljoint,
using a wood spacer between the top of the vice jaw and the hub
assembly
to stop it fouling with the curve of the cast between the hub and
the
balljoint hole, and to keep it square and central on the back of
the balljoint.
Use some medium length deep sockets to fit between the other side
of the
hub assembly and the other vice jaw. It will take a few attempts
to get the
vice hand-tightened without the socket extenders falling out.
10. Making sure the balljoint is well-aligned with the hole it is
to be pressed
into, carefully start to press it in. It will be extremely resistant
and you may
have to apply your weight to the bench vice handle to get any progress.
In
the initial stages keep checking the alignment of the balljoint to the
hole,
and monitor the gap between the balljoint stem and the other vice jaw -
it will
decrease as the joint is pressed in further. You may need to use longer
deep sockets
in the latter part of the operation.
11. Once the joint is in place, put
the circlip on. Firstly get the clip
over the rubber balljoint dust cover, then use a screwdriver and hammer
to get one end of the clip into the groove. Now gradually work around
the clip, tapping it into the groove, until it is fully located in it.
12. Return the hub assembly to
the car and feed the drive shaft into
the hub bearing. Lift the hub up and lower the lower balljoint stem
into its hole. Make sure the brake caliper is on the front side of
the
drive shaft with the pipe running over the top of it, then locate
the
upper balljoint into the upper arm and hand-tighten the nut. Do the
same for the track rod balljoint. Hand tighten the lower balljoint
nut.
13. Locate a jack under the lower
arm where the spring/shock forked
arm is bolted to it and locate a medium length socket extender between
the top of the upper balljoint and the top of the wheel well. Raise the
jack such that the entire hub assembly is pressed up and the socket
extender reaches the top of the wheel well. This is to press the
balljoint
stems into their tapered holes and to stop them rotating when you do the
nuts up - there is no need to apply much jacking force once the socket
extender reaches the top of the wheel well.
14. Tighten the balljoint nuts to
the following torques: lower - 74 ftlb,
upper - 37 ftlb, track rod - 32 ftlb. Further tighten the track
rod nut
until the hole through the middle of the stem becomes visible
through
the castellated nut, and replace the split pin.
15. Re-install the brake disks taking note of how they were
previously
located on the hubs (two possibilities) - make sure the mating
surfaces
are totally clean first. Refit the brake caliper carriers (torque
to 55 ftlb),
fit the anti-rattle springs and pads, and slide on the calipers.
Using new
caliper bolts tighten the calipers to the guide pins. Clean and
refit the
ABS sensors and the bolts holding the brake pipes and ABS sensor
wires to the upper arm.
16. Make sure the drive shafts are located fully in the hubs and
then fit
the new hub nuts. Refit the road wheels (without the centre trim
still)
and nuts making sure the wheels are secure with the nuts hand
tight.
Lower the car and apply the footbrake as before.
17. Using the 32mm deep impact socket and breaker bar, torque the
hub nuts to 306 ftlb. This can be done either using a high-torque
torque
wrench (they are expensive), or using your body weight applied to
the
right distance from the hub. To do the latter, calculate the
distance as
follows:
distance = 306 / weight
The weight value must be in pounds, calculable from stones by
multiplying the rounded down stones figure by 14, then adding in
the
extra pounds on top of the rounded down stones figure. E.g. a
weight of
13 stones 6 pounds equates to (13 x 14) + 6, i.e. 188 pounds. This
would give a torque of 306 ftlb if applied vertically to a
horizontal bar
at (306 / 188) feet (which is 1.63 feet, or 1 foot and 7.5 inches)
from
the hub. It is important that the bar is horizontal.
18. Jack the car back up again and remove the road wheels. Using a
hammer
and chisel or similar impliment, apply the staking to the new hub
nuts into
the groove in the drive shaft.
18. Refit the roadwheels,
hand tighten the wheel nuts and lower the car.
Torque the wheel nuts to 83 ftlb, make sure nothing has been
forgotten, and
take the car for a test drive.
