#16: Re: replacing wishbones Author: hamstercatfish, Location: LancsPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 1:52 pm ---- Anyone out there got any good tips in how to put the ball joint back in the socket? I managed to get the wishbone out - thanks to you guys. Putting it back in is another story though, I have wrestled with it for 4 hours and all that I got was bruises all over my arm and shoulder! Would really appreciate any advice. Thanks.
#17: Re: replacing wishbones Author: gazza82, Location: South BucksPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 1:58 pm ---- Fun aren't they ... I used an old chain-style bike lock and a trolley jack handle.
But the rest was a real faff as I tried pushing the suspension up and dropping the car down to get the balljoint in place. You also have to avoid the strut moving outwards (what the CV joints as well as they can "pop"). What you really need is to get the car as high as you can or you can't pull the wishbone down far enough.
The Haynes manual suggests a block of wood with a hole in it to act as a pivot .. from the pics it looks like the wood is long enough to rest the car on!
#18: Re: replacing wishbones Author: Rob2859, Location: HalifaxPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 3:26 pm ---- Yeh be careful when I did mine the arm kicked out and pulled the drive-shaft out. Made a mess all over the drive. get a bar or some wood and run it under the body of the car to lever it down. try keep the ball joint straight up.
#19: Re: replacing wishbones Author: hamstercatfish, Location: LancsPosted: Sun May 06, 2012 2:54 pm ---- Thanks guys, got the job done today, much to my relief. I only managed it with the help of a friend who knew what he was doing, he told me that it is really a 2 men job, that's how they do it at the garage. And yeh, I lost over a litre of oil and made a mess of my drive too, it is definitely the most difficult job I've done on cars, but the whole job costed me £90 for the 2 wish bones and 2 anti-roll bar linkages, and £10 for the accidental oil spill, when the garage was going to charge me £350. I'm a happy man!
Next job, the cambelt change, and I'm going to be looking for tips on here! Thanks again everyone.
#20: Re: replacing wishbones Author: Edward, Location: In the garagePosted: Mon May 07, 2012 3:01 am ---- It's not a two man job. A bit of grease on the ball joint and a bit of tweeking the position of hub and angle of the ball joint with occasional light upwards pressure from the trolley jack will get it back into the hub.
#21: Re: replacing wishbones Author: Steve206, Location: UKPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 4:04 am ----
Edward wrote:
It's not a two man job. A bit of grease on the ball joint and a bit of tweeking the position of hub and angle of the ball joint with occasional light upwards pressure from the trolley jack will get it back into the hub.
If your car isnt lowered, then its a different story. There is much room to play with as the strut is lower and there's a lot of pressure from the spring.
#22: Re: replacing wishbones Author: rick-gti, Location: welshpool, mid walesPosted: Wed May 09, 2012 5:57 am ---- Done both sides on my gti, right a**e to get them back in. I found using spring clamps helped alot. I couldnt use a jack because when i jacked the hub up it kept moving away from the ball joint. Went in easy enough when the spring was compressed. They can be a pain to remove aswell due to the notch on the ball joint (the hub moves slightly and the ball joint gets stuck half way out)
#23: Re: replacing wishbones Author: Seabook, Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 6:25 am ----
hamstercatfish wrote:
Thanks guys, got the job done today, much to my relief. I only managed it with the help of a friend who knew what he was doing, he told me that it is really a 2 men job, that's how they do it at the garage. And yeh, I lost over a litre of oil and made a mess of my drive too, it is definitely the most difficult job I've done on cars, but the whole job costed me £90 for the 2 wish bones and 2 anti-roll bar linkages, and £10 for the accidental oil spill, when the garage was going to charge me £350. I'm a happy man!
Next job, the cambelt change, and I'm going to be looking for tips on here! Thanks again everyone.
90 for pair of wishbone and linkages; unless you are in trade otherwise you will have to do it again very soon
90 for pair of wishbone and linkages; unless you are in trade otherwise you will have to do it again very soon
Urm... I ordered them from a local motor shop which I have been buying from for years, ebay prices are a little lower. How much would you say I should be paying for some decent stuff then?
#25: Re: replacing wishbones Author: Ste, Location: Hull -or- The World Of Info CodePosted: Wed May 09, 2012 3:54 pm ----
Edward wrote:
It's not a two man job. A bit of grease on the ball joint and a bit of tweeking the position of hub and angle of the ball joint with occasional light upwards pressure from the trolley jack will get it back into the hub.
Aye I do it on my own on my car, without using anything other than one arm to pull the wishbone down and the other to move the balljoint into place, but then my car is pretty decked which makes it all the more easier, I honestly couldnt do it on my own when I was working on a standard suspension setup as I couldnt get enough movement in the new wishbones
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