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Cannot remove inner ball joint - help please?

19K views 38 replies 16 participants last post by  angstadt530 
#1 ·
I am trying to replace my control arms and bushings with the Meyle HD.

The nut is still on the top of the ball joint bolt, and I cannot get it off. When I use a 22 mm wrench, the nut and the entire ball joint bolt spin.

I have the passenger side completely off, but on the driver's side, the inner ball joint is stuck. Luckally the nut is 3/4 inch off (but not completely) and the arm is hanging down (only stuck by the nut on the top from completely coming off the car) so I have access to the bolt underneath.

I tried using vice grips on the bolt but they just slide around (the circle bolt and grease does not help).

I tried to cut the bolt with both a hack saw and electronic saw, but they are not even making any progress.

I then drilled thru the arm into the ball (or so I think) and inserted an allen key in it to try to force it from moving but I still cannot get the nut to move.

I am working from underneath with a 22 mm wrench, I was not able to get a socket down thru the top.

Any ideas? Torch?

Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
Yeah, there's a slot for a 5mm hex key in the middle of the inner and outer ball joint bolts. Use a box wrench and the 5mm hex key on top of it. I'm also pretty sure though that the inner ball joint nut is 21mm, not 22mm if yours is still original. I just did this yesterday.
 
#4 ·
Thanks, I will give that a try. It will be a tough fit to get a hex key in there along with the wrench.

I think these are the original, but when I put the passenger side nut in the wrench (after removing it) it seems to be a perfect fit. I will pickup a 21 MM and try that as well.
 
#6 ·
So I cut thru the ball joint nut and was hoping i can push it up thru the frame, but it doesn't fit!!!!! arg!!!

The bolt looks like it is the same size for most of the way and i cut it at that point (the bottom part is wider).

I was not able to get a hex key in the top and turn it with a wrench... now I think I am totally screwed.
 
#8 ·
Ahhh you should have just used a jack to force the bolt into the frame so it didn't spin. Try jamming the bold up into the subframe, use the cut off part, put a jack under and try to get it to bind in the hole. Once you get the nut off you can hammer the bolt out.

If that doesn't work can you get a nut splitter in there?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_34573_34573

Tim
 
#10 ·
As I asked before, did you cut the bolt flush with bottom part of control arm. If you haven't then weld a nut and you will be set. Even if you cut it flush, you should be able to weld a nut and get the weld in thru inside of the nut (get a bigger one)

Hope this helps
 
#17 · (Edited)
I am not sure how you can have a jack underneath the control arm and also be underneath the car to access the nut. The jack will be on obstructing your access.

I may go underneath the car today to verify why you are not able to use a hex nut to hold down the bolt. The hex nut is the way to go.

Side note: Before dislodging the control arm off the frame, always completely remove the nut before disconnecting the arm from the frame. Usually the bolt will be frozen to the frame due to age when you do this job. You will need to use this to your advantage when you remove the nut.
 
#18 ·
I think there is a little confusion, let me try to clarify.

The control arm is no longer on the car, I cut the inner ball joint bolt which released the arm from the car.

The only thing left on the car is about 2 inches of ball joint bolt and the 21 mm nut on the top of it.

The ball joint fell loose from the car (it was not siezed on) while I was starting to unscrew the nut. I drilled directly into the "ball" and inserted an allen key to hold it in place while I tried to remove the nut - no success, it would not budge, even when hitting it with a hammer. The nut seems to be siezed onto the bolt.

I then cut the bolt knocking the arm off to give me more room to work, also thinking I could just push the bolt up thru the hole and be done with it.

So now I have a bolt with the nut on the top of it and about a half inch of bolt sticking thru the bottom of the frame.

Somehow I need to get to the top of the bolt to either split the nut or cut the nut off. I do not think welding something onto the bolt will help much as I had the hex key inserted into the ball to prevent it from spinning and still could not get the nut to spin off. All the others came off with no problem but this one will not budge.

Right now the car is sitting on jack stands at home, I am out of town so I will need to wait until next week to mess with it some more.

Thanks all for any suggestions. I know I made some mistakes in this process which I learned from.
 
#19 ·
The bolt is tapered, so it will not push out from bottom to top. Have you tried the jack yet? Clean the bolt very well with degreaser and put a jack under it. Jack it up till the weight of the car is starting to bear on the jack. Spray PB Blaster or other penetrating oil on the nut, let it sit, then crank the SOB off.
 
#20 ·
I was able to jack the car up more and then get a hack saw in the top to cut the nut off and the bolt out.

The new arms and bushings are installed. Thanks all for your suggestions!

I have 2 new questions now. I did not have a torque wrench to torque everything to spec. I just made it as tight as I could and then went to a mechanic and asked them to torque it to spec. They told me they just tighten them as tight as they can so I am confused. Is it ok to tighten then as tight as I can by open end wrenches / socket wrench or does it need to be at spec?

I also have a clunking sound when I drive at slow speeds and over bumps (Pittsburgh roads are very bumpy and tons of potholes) which seems to only be coming from the passenger side. On the highway and smooth roads I do not hear it. From what I see on searches this is usually due to something not be tight enough - possibly the end link?

Can anyone think of anything else that may not be tight enough?
 
#22 ·
I'm going to try the jack under the inner bj trick tomorrow. I ran into this today where the bj gave while I was loosening the nut. The nut was not cooperating.

Any other idea if that doesn't bind it up enough? I tried using a hex in the end, but it was very unwieldy and I may have stripped it out.

I did not cut the BJ shaft, so I have that going. Hopefully the jack trick will work and let me get the nut off.

Then the next problem. I can't get my outers off to save my life. Pickle fork (w/ 10 lb sledge), pitman puller, torch, PB Blaster. All to no avail. Just my luck, inner came off too easy, outer won't come off at all (neither driver or passenger).

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

-DPF
 
#27 ·
Kamil,

Thanks. I'll grab one this morning.

BeMyWhip, I replaced everything. Endlinks, LCABs, steering coupling, tie rods, struts/springs. Everything between the knuckle and the frame went. Same in the back, that's done already.

Everything was going great until I got to the CAs. Now I'm struggling a bit.

-DPF
 
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