Almost every owner of a VAZ car faces the need to replace ball joints. The deplorable state of domestic roads makes its own adjustments to the car maintenance schedule. It is better to do the work yourself, in order to have complete confidence in the excellent quality of the repair.
The main symptom of a malfunction of the ball joints is axial play and knocking when swinging the upper and lower steering rods relative to the steering knuckle. To check, you need to start a pry bar or a hard metal rod between these nodes, then test the mechanism with frequent strong pressing.
Preparation for work
Before starting work, the arch and steering elements should be thoroughly washed and allowed to dry for several hours. Work should be carried out on an inspection pit or overpass. From the tool you will need: a hammer, a sturdy flat screwdriver, a set of wrenches, a reverse clamp or a special puller and a car lamp.
The upper or lower ball joints are changed in pairs, but alternately on each wheel. For safety, chocks should be installed under the rear wheels. Hang out one of the front wheels, put a bar under the bottom and drain the oil. After that, the lifting device is installed under the lower steering rod arm, which must be slightly raised and the wheel removed.
Removing ball joints
In order to dismantle the old ball bearings, you need to loosen the nuts holding the pins of the supports to the steering knuckle with a 22 wrench. The nuts do not need to be completely twisted, namely, loosened by two or three turns. After that, a return clamp or a puller is wound between them. The latter is a stud with two blind nuts, the ends of which are sharpened under a cone with a blunt top. The task is to release it by lightly tapping the steering knuckle with a hammer. As a result, the pins of the ball bearings should move from their place, after which the nut of the upper support must be twisted, and the pivot rod must be disengaged and taken to the side.
The lower swing arm remains stationary. You will need to remove the brake disc from it and put it next to it. In this case, you must be very careful with the brake hose. The ball joints are attached to the pivot arms with three 8-bolt bolts that need to be unscrewed.
Installing new parts
The installation site of the supports should be thoroughly cleaned of dust and dirt, lubricated with Movil and fix new ball joints. It is imperative to replace the mounting bolts and grovers with new ones. To install ball joints, you should also take care of the availability of new nuts with a frequent thread pitch.
First, the lower support is installed, to which the brake disc is attached. There is no need to tighten the nuts too much, this can be done after the end of the assembly. The upper lever, together with the installed support, is inserted into the hole of the steering knuckle, the second nut is also screwed almost to the end. After the ball joints are in place, the nuts are tightly tightened, after which the wheel is installed and the substrates under the car bottom are removed.
