dallison28

My 02-s needed to have the boots replaced per the ppi. I purchased 4- gkn boot kits from rockauto for about $45 shipped. This included everything that is needed to replace the parts except the panhead screws that hold in the axle to the trans. I purchased those from suncoast along with a couple other goodies.

I have changed a motor in a toyota camry in 36 hours before, changed a clutch in a hyundai in 2 hours(after having to do it several times), struts, and pretty much anything that needed to be done to a car(mostly japanese)

I have worked on every one of my close to 20 cars in 16 years, so i am somewhat experienced and do all my own work.


I followed the instructions from pedrosgarage.com. The 1st time i ran into a problem was when i was removing the ball joints from the hub.

I had purchased a the ball joint tool from napa for about $25 to help with this step.

It worked well for the upper control arm ball joints. There was plenty of room for leverage.

BUT the lower control arm ball joints were another story. I had stuffed the tool above the boot and the top arm was on top of the nut so it could push down the ball joint.

WELL, as i am cranking down i keep hearing a groaning sound. The 1st couple times i ignored it, but after the 3rd time or so i decided to back off and disconnect the tool to see if there was damage.

and there was..........................


I had successfully bent the threads on the ball joint. I could hear myself mutter "f*ck".

So after some searching and calling, the end result was to replace the lower control arm.

I checked e-bay, p-car sites and car-part.com. There wasn't a whole lot on my usual sites.

I break out my new panorama magazine that i got in the mail that day and called around the next morning.

I got in touch with, i think this is the name, dc automotive in NC.

Without having the book in front of me i can't remember, but i got the lower control arm for $145 shipped.
When i got it in ups, it looked brand new! I recommend these guys highly.

I modified the tool to get more clearance and leverage. I used a flap disc on the angle grinder to widen the mouth of the lower fork. I also ground down the top of the same fork so it would fit in a tighter area. All while trying to keep the integrity of the tool so it would still be strong enough to complete the job and not have to buy another one.

This worked out very very well.


I did have one other problem.

When disassembling the cv joint, i had reassembled it incorrectly. It was not moving freely, it was stuck in position,

Soooo.......

I had to take the axle apart again to reassemble it. There is a correct way of doing it and you most def. will know if it is incorrect. This is where keeping one side intact until you get the other side correct comes in hand.


So, i had to remove the metal band around the boot rendering it useless and having to order another from rockauto and waiting 2 days.

I checked the local auto parts stores but they had the very thin straps and i didn't feel comfortable using them since the others were much thicker and i wanted to be consistant.

Last night i had completed everything and all was nice and tight.


I would recommend that you seriously think about whether or not you really want to do this project yourself. I had most of the tools i needed but i did have to buy the 32mm socket(that came in a set, b/c you never know when you will need the others), the ball joint tool, 40 torx socket and longer allen wrenches.

This is not a project that is simple. You can really screw something up if you do not have the knowledge or PATIENCE as your car will be on jackstands for a couple hours or even weeks until you get the parts in.


In retrospect, the things i would change if i had to do this again are...


I would not remove the lower ball joint, it really is unnecessary from what i saw. If you disconnect the part of the control arm that is closest to the trans, you are able to get the axle out just as easy.


make sure that the ball joint tool has plenty of leverage on the upper contol arm so i don't bend it like i did to the bottom one.

try to get it done in a more timely manner.



What you will need to do this job....


Patience

lots of old towels/rags

Proper tools

an extra car to drive when your car is on jackstands

or pay someone else to do the job(much easier but you won't learn as much about your car)





My only concern is, when i was driving this morning to work in 35 degree weather, the car seemed to sway more at 60+mph when moving the steering wheel and changing lanes.

I also put 2 new bridgestone re960 pole position tires on the rear yesterday.

Could it possibly be the cold pavement???? I checked everything before finishing up to make sure everything was tight.

dallison28

also, you will need latex gloxed when dealing with the grease from the boots. I always have a box to use when doing certain things on the car..

I also use other gloves to keep my hands clean, I hate having diry hands after repairing a car.

stumpjumper

wow that was bad luck!

when I removed my axles to replace a wheel bearing I did it an even easier way

unbolt the sway bar (2 bolts), unbolt the rear end cross bracing (2 bolts), and then disconnect the center catalytic converter section of the exhaust (1 sleeve and 3 bolts) the cat removal may not be necessary but it gives you a ton of space to work with

once you do that you can disconnect the hex heads from the transmission, with the exhaust out it can drop right down completely, then pop the axle out of the hub with a rubber mallet, I never even looked at the control arms

2nd on the gloves, boxes of 100 nitrile gloves (the blue ones) are about $15

dallison28

wow, that sounds much easier. I was toying with the idea of dropping the exhaust, but you know what happens with those old bolts on the exhaust...

curt_928

DC Auto RULES! They are the best priced place I've found for boxster parts for my 02 base.

Curt
-------------------
79 928 5sp silver/blk
02 boxster 5sp blk/blk

stumpjumper

true, but a few exhaust bolts are cheaper than a control arm

dallison28

the swaying seemed pretty bad. I checked the pressure in the tires and made sure all was tight.


Then as i was looking at the tire, i saw that it was directional and was on the wrong side.

It seemed to help i little bit, but i won't be able to tell until i get back on the highway.


can having the tires on the wrong side make it sway?

arenared

Wow. I recently did a rear wheel bearing, and I didn't undo much to get the axle out. I think I took out the alignment bolt on the control arm. I undid the ball joint on the track rod but that's because I have aftermarket track rods that are not really pressed in. I could have undid the alignment eccentric on that as well, which gets me to...

If you replaced your control arm, did you realign it? I hope you did, otherwise you car will be seriously squirrelly. Even if you aligned it, aligning these cars is a bit of an art. I recommend you replace the eccentrics every few alignments as they will not hold very well. Check your alignment I run tires backwards and mis-matched directional without much care except if there is standing water.

Sputter

Base or S?

dallison28

I am getting an alignment this coming friday at an alignment specialist. From what i hear, the guy is a genius at it. The charge $130, but it is still cheaper than the stealership. My usual tire supplier doesn't have the equipment to do the job on this. I would rather have it done right.

When i was driving it, it was all over the place. VERY hard to handle on the highway

arenared

Smart! Getting a good alignment is critical on these cars IMHO. You want exactly that: a genius who knows how to align these cars correctly. That price is a deal. Run away from any "Speedy Lube" or Sears type of alignment place.

Any fool can get the alignment to within factory specs because the factory specs are so wide. Whether it is a "good" alignment for the type of driving you do is a different matter. Doing an alignment that will also hold past the first speed bump or pot hole is also another matter. Glad you will be in good hands. Post back your alignment results (before/after).

dallison28

i got the alignment done and it was out of whack. I'll scan the document andd post it next week.

It is much better, but still seems to be a tad bit squirrely. Maybe it's the re960's with the deeper tread. I think i may be trying to push it a little more than i need to.

stumpjumper

mine's an S

Sputter

The reason I was asking is that i need to do the drivers side and I think i'll try it your way. I did the balljoint route on the passenger side. It'll save a few steps if i can get enough clearance to drop the shaft.

dallison28