Who here has done thier upper ball joints?

6

66nightMARE

New Member

Nov 26, 2004

97

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0

Katy, Texas

Nov 16, 2006

#1

• Nov 16, 2006

• #1

Well im changing out the upper balljoints on my car (66 mustang). Well on the upper control arm there are four RIVETS holding the ball joint "plate" or whatever you want to call it to the upper control arm. How the **** do I break them? It says in the manual to use a chisel. Yeah freakin right. I got the heads off of 2 of them with a grinder. The other 2 are not accesible with a large tool. Need some ideas.

 

dennis112

15 Year Member

May 15, 2005

1,561

36

79

Amish Wonderland of Central PA.

Nov 16, 2006

#2

• Nov 16, 2006

• #2

Drill a hole through the center of the rivet, then use your chisel. Start small and work up to a larger size.

 

B

blue65coupe

New Member

Aug 14, 2006

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North Carolina

Nov 16, 2006

#3

• Nov 16, 2006

• #3

That sucks. I thought '65 and '66 were the same. I have a '65 and the uppers just unbolt. The lowers are riveted in where you replace the whole lower control arm but the uppers just bolt in. Learn something new everyday!

 

dennis112

15 Year Member

May 15, 2005

1,561

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79

Amish Wonderland of Central PA.

Nov 16, 2006

#4

• Nov 16, 2006

• #4

blue65coupe said:

That sucks. I thought '65 and '66 were the same. I have a '65 and the uppers just unbolt. The lowers are riveted in where you replace the whole lower control arm but the uppers just bolt in. Learn something new everyday!

Click to expand...

65' and 66' are the same and both had rivets from the factory.

Yours has been replaced sometime in the past. The Mustang upper ball joint is a common wear part. Once the rivets are removed, they are replaced with 4 bolts and nuts.

 

A

amorrow

New Member

Jul 15, 2005

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St. Charles, IL

Nov 16, 2006

#5

• Nov 16, 2006

• #5

This was one of the first things I did for my restoration, and was pretty intimidated beforehand. I found doing this isn't really a big deal afterall. With no experience, I drilled the each rivet out, used a chisel to punch the excess metal through that was stubborn, and away they went without any butchering of the holes.

...also, if you're lowering your a-arms or already have them done, now would be a good time to consider a negative-wedge kit...just a thought.

 

2bav8

Founding Member

Nov 30, 1998

2,511

1

47

Mesa, AZ

Nov 16, 2006

#6

• Nov 16, 2006

• #6

Why buy a wedge kit?
Total waste of money for street use.

 

A

amorrow

New Member

Jul 15, 2005

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St. Charles, IL

Nov 17, 2006

#7

• Nov 17, 2006

• #7

Because I'm also going to race my Mustang, have my arms lowered more than 1", and others (66nightMare) may use his car for something other than normal street use. Even on certain public roads, I still reap the benefits of such modifications...as I said, it was only a suggestion. That's why, and that's why it's not a waste of money in some (like my) cases.

 

D

D.Hearne

New Member

Sep 29, 2000

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south louisiana

Nov 17, 2006

#8

• Nov 17, 2006

• #8

Do yourself a favor and change the whole upper arm assembly. They don't cost much more than the ball joints themselves. New ones will be stronger, not having been subjected to 30-40 years of wear and tear. Changing them also get you new upper bushings too, sometimes it's easier to do the whole front end, instead of piece meal.

 

1

19stang66

Member

Apr 16, 2003

689

0

16

Nov 17, 2006

#9

• Nov 17, 2006

• #9

I agree. I just replaced the whole upper a-arm. The cost isn't all that bad.