Trying to replace the ball joints on the control arms of an 86 951. I have Rennbay's 19 mm GCK and have printed out his instructions for doin' the deed. Got the old epoxy (or whatever it is) scraped out but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the bottom circlips removed. Frist tried a small screw driver but can't get behind the end of the clip. The bought a set of picks... Can't get the pick behind the clip and for that matter, bent the pick trying to get it in there.

Anyone have any helpful suggestions/thoughts?

Thanks

Michael

 

If you check out the instructions in the box there is a tip for the drill method, which is what I use. Just take a small drill at a 45º and make a recess in the aluminum behind the circlip. Then tap the circlip around a bit so you have a nice square edge where the hole is. A tiny pic or dry wall screw will pop it right out.
There should be a diagram of this on the instruction sheet. If you don't have it just shoot me an email and I will send you a pdf.

 

I printed out the instructions on your site. Can't find the instructions that came in the package at the moment. I assumed they were the same as what I could find on your site. If they're different, then yes, please email me the file. You should have my email addy

 

I posted this on the turbo side, but since I know not everyone reads there I'll post it here..

http://reutterwerk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28296

I have done this more than enough times that I no longer need to drill the clearance hole, but drilling the hole does help as described in Travis's instructions!

 

We sell a lot of ball joint kits with a good percentage of them being to people with the first name Michael.

Shoot me over your email address and I will forward you the PDF.

 

email sent to "rennbay@rennbay.com

 

I just did mine Yesterday!

To get the c-clip out of mine,,, I actually C-Clamped it with a socket (like installation) which gave me room to get a screwdriver under the clip... Then i just pryed it upward and it came right out. (yes, on the first one the assembly blasted into the sky!!) the second went very quickly.

 

I did mine a while ago, but had similar issues. It took a while, but I compressed the joint on one side and got it out, but had to drill the otherside.

That is hte hardest part of the job.

 

I needed to make a small grove with the drill, so the screwdriver fitted behind the C-clip, as the manual said.

The rest is easy, no problems with the rennbay kit

 

Hi Travis. Are you reusing the stock circlips now? The circlips in the Rennbay kit I bought back in 2004 were a bit soft, so I reused the stock ones and no problem since.

 

Nope, we still use the spiral retaining rings because there is no way to visually inspect that the factory style ones are seated completely. Ours are a bit harder to install but they offer a 360º hold as well as insure your ball joints will not fall out the bottom due to a half seated factory style clip.

Contrary to what some people think, we do not include them for the sole purpose of making the job harder.