Front Inner CV boot replacement

[59ctd]

I just moved my 09 LGT into my shop yesterday to put the plastic belly pan back on.  Have not driven it for a few months now.  Checkin things out the left inner CV boot is split.  I have new boots on hand so this is the weekend repair job for me.  Have not done one of these in a few years.  I believe the lower ball joint needs to be separated to give enough clearance to get the joint apart to fit the new boot on.  Is that correct?  If I have that apart I then wonder should I just replace the outer boot and then the lower ball joint.  Ball joints and outer boot seem fine no issues but this is all original and the car is 15 years old now.  What ya guys think?

Edited August 26, 2023 by 59ctd

[relative4]

Yes, disconnect the ball joint.  I wouldn't touch that outer boot.

[m sprank]

If you are going through the process of pulling the axle and rebooting one side...  Its a 15 year old car, might as well tackle both sides now.  Yes, disconnecting the ball joint is easiest.

[relative4]

That outer boot doesn't look anywhere near 15 years old.

[59ctd]

LGT is still sitting on jack stands waiting for me to pull the lower ball joints and then do the axle boot.  I've been trying to figure out how to remove the ball joint pinch bolt without breaking it off.  I just bought a 'Hot Rod' induction coil heater.  Tried it first time on a bolt in my vise and it was glowing red within seconds.  This should be an easy and flameless way to work those pinch bolts out.  Does anyone know if this type of induction heater thingy can harm the ABS sensor or tone ring on the outer CV joint?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09262QC6G

[KZJonny]

I used something similar when doing balljoints last. The inductive heater worked a treat.

 

I’m pretty I took out the Hall sensor, just to be safe, but in hindsight I doubt you’d need to. I definitely did not remove the CV, and no effect on the tone ring at all in my case.

There is a lot of metal between the pinch bolt and all that other junk. Too much for the heater to warm it up a whole lot.

[Boltonator]

I have done this repair on my own car. I didn't separate the ball joint for mine, but I did remove the 32mm axle nut (with a screwdriver stuck in the brake caliper). I then marked the position of the top cambered nut on the lower strut mounting to the hub, undone the brake and ABS brackets, removed the bolts and got the hub to swing forward enough to remove the entire CV. 

I did have an issue where when I removed the CV I nicked the Axle seal on that side and had a small gear oil leak for about 500km. Don't just yank the CV out, use a small pry bar to pop it out a little then remove it gently. As for why I risked stuff pulling the CV, I just didn't want to do the repair under the car. I replaced that axle seal with a mallet and the original seal and with the new boot the axle has been good thus far. 

[59ctd]

I worked on the ball joints over the past weekend.  The induction coil heater worked really nicely to get the ball joint pinch bolt out without breaking them.  I do have the proper ball joint puller but  the left front the puller sheared all the threads off the ball joint shaft so now I kinda have a different issue to get that ball joint out.  Since the axle is now out I can apply the torch to the lower knuckle to hopefully get the knuckle to release the ball joint

[KZJonny]

2 hours ago, 59ctd said:

I worked on the ball joints over the past weekend.  The induction coil heater worked really nicely to get the ball joint pinch bolt out without breaking them.  I do have the proper ball joint puller but  the left front the puller sheared all the threads off the ball joint shaft so now I kinda have a different issue to get that ball joint out.  Since the axle is now out I can apply the torch to the lower knuckle to hopefully get the knuckle to release the ball joint

Bummer about the stripped threads.

Somone else here, or maybe on outback.org cam up with a method I've been using, and it's pretty good. Let's see if I can describe it breifly.

 

Basically, you jack up the control arm you're working on until it's about as high as you can get it. This will open up a gap between the LCA and the little bulge in the knucke that the pinch bolt goes through. (You may want to thread the bolt back in loose to keep it stable.)

Place/hammer in the largest impact grade socket that will fit into that gap until it's snug. Release the jack holding up the LCA. The force from the spring will of course push the whole thing back down, but the socket will act as a wedge/fulcrum to force the LCA away from the knuckle. That action will pull the ball joint out of the knuckle.

Usually you'll need to go through a series of progressively larger sockets until it gets loose enough you can remove it.

Normally you'd leave the castle nut on the ball joint, so it gets pulled out of the knuckle, not the other way around. So, you may have a harder time of it, but if you have access to a mig welder, you could put a couple of tacks on the bottom, pull the ball joint out of the knuckle, then grind them back and remove it from the LCA. Not the most fun, but better than having to remove everything and trying to get it all into a press or whatever....

[59ctd]

15 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Bummer about the stripped threads.

Somone else here, or maybe on outback.org cam up with a method I've been using, and it's pretty good. Let's see if I can describe it breifly.

 

Basically, you jack up the control arm you're working on until it's about as high as you can get it. This will open up a gap between the LCA and the little bulge in the knucke that the pinch bolt goes through. (You may want to thread the bolt back in loose to keep it stable.)

Place/hammer in the largest impact grade socket that will fit into that gap until it's snug. Release the jack holding up the LCA. The force from the spring will of course push the whole thing back down, but the socket will act as a wedge/fulcrum to force the LCA away from the knuckle. That action will pull the ball joint out of the knuckle.

Usually you'll need to go through a series of progressively larger sockets until it gets loose enough you can remove it.

Normally you'd leave the castle nut on the ball joint, so it gets pulled out of the knuckle, not the other way around. So, you may have a harder time of it, but if you have access to a mig welder, you could put a couple of tacks on the bottom, pull the ball joint out of the knuckle, then grind them back and remove it from the LCA. Not the most fun, but better than having to remove everything and trying to get it all into a press or whatever....

Ok, I believe I understand your description.  Put ball joint stud back in LCA and the castle nut on with a nail through the cotter hole so it stays together.  Jack the whole thing way up and use the LCA angle at the knuckle joint to try and pry the ball joint free from the knuckle.  When the whole thing gets pushed down from spring it will change the angle of the LCA and the knuckle orientation.  That should be a fairly large amount of force with something solid wedged in between there

[KZJonny]

5 hours ago, 59ctd said:

Ok, I believe I understand your description.  Put ball joint stud back in LCA and the castle nut on with a nail through the cotter hole so it stays together.  Jack the whole thing way up and use the LCA angle at the knuckle joint to try and pry the ball joint free from the knuckle.  When the whole thing gets pushed down from spring it will change the angle of the LCA and the knuckle orientation.  That should be a fairly large amount of force with something solid wedged in between there

Yes. Correct.

I’ve done 3 x cars (bl/bp’s) like this.

It can take a minute, and you’ll win if you put a good penetrant on anything first of course, but it is was lot less money than using the special tool, or going out and making one.

The spring does indeed put a *lot* of force on the ball joint in the knuckle. It doesn’t push quite in the exact parallel to the axis of the balljoint, so it wants to come out a little crooked, but nothing a good prybar can’t remedy at that point.

Usually when I’ve done this, you get an audible ‘crack’ when the knuckle lets go of it’s rusty death grip….

Do I even need to say that you give the new ones a bath in anti-seize when you install them….?

Edited October 10, 2023 by KZJonny

[59ctd]

4 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Do I even need to say that you give the new ones a bath in anti-seize when you install them….?

Yeps anti seize will be used.  It has always treated us well when future repairs are needed to take stuff apart.  This job is likely to be worked on Thursday when my son has day off and we can have at it together.

[59ctd]

Worked on the car a bit more today but ball joints are really stuck in the knuckles.  Tried the jack it up and jamb something in the gap there and let the pressure off but it did not break free.  Both drive axles are out now so I can apply lots of heat to the bottom of the knuckles and give it another try this weekend.

[KZJonny]

5 minutes ago, 59ctd said:

Worked on the car a bit more today but ball joints are really stuck in the knuckles.  Tried the jack it up and jamb something in the gap there and let the pressure off but it did not break free.  Both drive axles are out now so I can apply lots of heat to the bottom of the knuckles and give it another try this weekend.

Wow....Yeah, that's pretty stuck. Doesn't hurt to hammer a cold chisel into the split where the pinch bolt goes, to try and open up that joint a little. Heat will also be your friend there. That part has also broken on what seems to be rare cases, but when you're dealing with things that are as badly siezed as yours apparently are, I suppose you'll get that.

[59ctd]

We got one lower ball joint out - the one on the right that didn't have stripped threads.  LOTs of fire from two torches. and the ball joint puller it was tight but it came out in one piece.  Left ball joint no go.  Ordering new left knuckle, bearing, dust shield today...

[59ctd]

What type of slide hammer do I need to dislodge the OUTER CV joint from the axleshaft?  My son said I should replace the outer CV boots too and well, they are original so 15+ years old now.  The outer CV joint is held on by a blind spring clip on the inner shaft.  I have the whole thing out and in my vise but not sure what type of slide hammer I need to pull straight on the outer hub shaft with the nut on it.

Edited October 21, 2023 by 59ctd

[KZJonny]

I was able to get mine apart by using a dead blow hammer and a piece of wood as a drift.

Just went around and around until the spring clip came loose. Didn't require much violence, so I didn’t worry about having damaged the joint components.

Could be worth a shot before spending money on slide hammer parts.

[59ctd]

I replaced the boots from the other end.  The inner joint comes apart pretty easily and the outer boot is easy to just slide all the way down the shaft to the outer joint.

[KZJonny]

14 hours ago, 59ctd said:

I replaced the boots from the other end.  The inner joint comes apart pretty easily and the outer boot is easy to just slide all the way down the shaft to the outer joint.

Smaaht.

I’ll remember that for next time. Getting the outer joint back on without bending the retaining clip was a pain in the ass.

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by KZJonny

[59ctd]

Alright, my LGT is back together again FINALLY.  Left lower ball joint would not come out so new knuckle, bearing, and brake dust plate there and both new three-five ball joints.  Also replaced all four front CV boots.  Outer CV joints did not want to dislodge from the shaft but the new boots slide down easy enough once the inner CV joint is removed.  My son will get an alignment when goes to work at the local subie dealer tomorrow.  I just took off the class 3 hitch since that will work better on my new-to-me 06 OB 3.0R.  After alignment the car is going to sleep for the winter about an hour south of home in MIL's spare garage.