Ball Joint Stud Just Spins When Tightening Castle Nut

[keybrdcowboy1]

Can anyone help with this? I have taken the whole front suspension apart and now I'm trying to put it back together. I have the LCA in, put the spindle back on the LCA, have the strut in, and now I'm trying to tighten the castle nut on the ball joint stud but it only goes so far and then the stud just turns. I've tried putting a jack with a piece of wood under the ball joint but that's not doing anything... anyone have any ideas on how to get this thing to tighten? I've wire brushed the nut and the stud but still nothing... attached is a picture of what I have... thanks for any help....

 

[mikestang63]

1. why does the bj boot look compressed. Did you put grease in it
2. sure you didnt get a SN95 BJ. that requires a spacer

 

[keybrdcowboy1]

No I didn't do anything with the balljoint.... I took the LCA off and dropped it off at a machine shop to get new LCA bushings pressed in.... that's it.... balljoint never came out.

 

[mikestang63]

Perhaps the threads on the nut are stripped or filled with crud . FIrst, spray some penetrating lube on the threads of the nut and the BJ. If you have an air gun, that would be best and it should spin down. If not , see if that works.

If not remove the LCA from the spindle and see if the nut will go all the way down the threads. You may need to grab it at the bottom of the shank where there are no threads with a vise grip or pipe wrench. . Once you have the nut so it will go all the way up and down the threads but the LCA back in the spindle.

 

[keybrdcowboy1]

So I grabbed the nut from the passenger side, and after clamping the crap out of the spindle and the bottom of the LCA with a C clamp, that one went on rather easy....so I'm guessing there's something wrong with my nut. Any idea where I could get a new one? Anyone know what size they are? I am having the same problem with my tie rod end nuts too..... thanks for your advice Mike... all of this is new to me, so I'm learning a lot here.

 

[mikestang63]

let me guess, you hammered on the nut to get it out of the spindle? You can get them at any parts store.

 

[keybrdcowboy1]

Heh.... I was smacking the crap out of it.....

 

[Mustang5L5]

Put the jack under the ball joint, and assuming there is a spring on the cup, put a little pressure on the jack to lift the arm up.

Then try putting the nut on (assuming the threads and nut are not FUBARed)

 

[2000xp8]

I figured mike was right about the hammer. (no worries, there is more than a few of use that have to learn the hard way about hammering things out)

Goto harbor freight, buy the ball joint tool, replace ball joints. If you had the front end apart and they are old you probably should have done it anyway.

 

[BMW Rider]

Never beat on a part you plan to reuse. I'd go with the suggestion to replace the ball joints now too. If the nut is damaged, it's probable that the stud is too and may fail later on. A ball joint press is the proper way to pop the stud out without damaging the ball joint. A splitter fork works well for ones you don't want to save. Both tools are reasonably affordable or could be rented for less than the cost of beat up and damaged parts.