Hey guys.

Right in the middle of the upper BJ boot replacement.
Drivers side went fine..........

Now I am on the passenger side and can not get the BJ out!!!
I have the proper BJ lifter tool for the uppers, and it did pop the BJ out just a little, but now I have run out of "thread" on the BJ lifter tool, I can not tighten it any more to pop the BJ out the rest of the way.

How do I get this beyotch out?

Thanks!
Shawn

 

any chance for a picture???

 

It looks like the BJ tool, bent the nut on the ball joint thread...............now I am F'd.

Man I am pissed..................the drivers side went down without a problem!!!
So now I think I need the BJ rebuild kit, and the actual balljoint????

I don't even know where to start.

 

Sorry, I'm not going to help you with your BJ, or your nuts... Besides, this is a family forum...

 

Very funny..............if servicing the Bj was as easy as getting a BJ, well...............lets just say I would not be in this position.

Seriously though.

It looks like the threads on the upper ball joint got buggered up, and now the nut will not thread on more then a few turns.

So how do I get myself out of this mess?

I am guessing that the upper ball joint needs to rebuilt and I will need a new ball joint itself..........are my on the right track here?

BTW it is an '84, so eligible for a rebuild............

Right now I put the tire back on and put it back on the floor, drove it around the block with no issues............

But it should not be driven right???? I am afraid that the upper ball joint will pop out of the spindle and knock the nut off if it does that.

Still not sure what the next step is.

 

DO NOT DRIVE IT WITH THAT NUT LOOSE!!!!!!!

if the nut only threads on a half a turn or so why is that? Is it because the threads just got abit mangled? or did you bend the shaft?

You cannot purchase new ball joint, if you destroyed this you will have to purchase a new, or used upper A-arm.

If you cannot get it free then take a drift (round chunk of steel) and place it perpendicular to the balljoint shaft on the hub where the ball joint goes throught and give it a few REALLY hard whacks with a hammer. That will break whatever corrosion you may have holding it together.

Would you care to show is a picture though of what you are using to try to pop this apart with?

 

Lizard..............

The threads on the shaft look mangled.

Here is what I was using to knock the joint loose, mind you this went flawlessly on the drivers side.

It looks like the ball joint itself will come out according to the 928 motorsports rebuild kit instructions, so I assume if the joint comes it, it can be replaced...........mind you this is for an '84. I do not think the shaft is bent, just the threads buggered from what I can see.........sorry should have snapped a pic, but it is buttoned back up now.

 

That is what I have used myself to break them free as well.

I understand that the early upper A arms can be dismantled, but the ball joint/shaft itself isnt a part I believe to be sold on its own.

If it still isnt free use the drift as I described with some preload from that tool.

Once you have it out use the appropriate die to repair the threads.

 

I have never used a tap die set...............I thought you could only use that to repair female threads. Can you also repair the male bolt like on the ball joint?

 

How does it work? Does it re-allign the threads somehow?

 

Depending on hw bad the threads are -- you may be able to clean them up with a thread file:

 

The 'Tap' part of tap and die is to tap the threads of a bolt hole. The 'die' part is for re-threading the threads on a bolt. It would basically cut off the part of the threads that are in the way or bend them back where they belong. It's not pretty and IMO not as strong as it's supposed to be if the threads you're trying to fix are at the point where the bolt is supposed to grab. If you're fixing threads that are just on the way to where it's going to rest, you may be OK.

None of this will help until you can get the nut off of it and get the ball out of the socket.

Are you sure you got the retaining ring out of there and everything that's in the way and supposed to be holding the ball into the top of the A-arm socket?

IIRC, the kit and instructions from 928ms say you have to clean out the ring and use a pick to gouge out the stuff that's in there before being able to pop it out through the top. Maybe it was just still buggered with epoxy or whatever is in there?

I know you said the other side came apart smoothly, but maybe this side is more full of gunk?

 

Use Tap for female threads & Dies for male threads - just look on ebay for examples - go to sears to see what they have. Cleaning it up enough to get it started properly into the old threads is the real trick.

Alan

 

Mike..............I was just replacing the boot due to it splitting.
I was hoping not to have to re-build the BJ, but it seems now with a buggered up thread on the ball joint I may have to.

I am going to try and use the die first to see if I can repair the threads, they are as you say "just in the way" as the nut makes its way up.

If the die does not work..............then I need to know what my options are:

1. Rebuild kit and new ball joint.
2. New upper A arm.

I do not know what other options I have.

 

WOW...I had no idea this even existed.....Cool! Thanks for the info.