help....

[drew93tsi]

i need to replace a ball joint on the drivers side front...i looked in vfaq and they have nothing in there as to how to do it...international parts has one i can buy for 33 dollars and i do not know what im doing...if anyone can tell me how to do it...i have the day off tomorrow and i was going to do full suspension and do my ball joint as my day off project. if you have any pics to go along with and explaination of what to do that would be appreciated. i cant even drive on the freeway, its that bad. any help would be great.

[BlackEclipse]

I thought a press was needed to do 1G ball joints.

[koritina]

Awhile back it was said you can freeze the ball joint and heat up the lower control arm, pop them into place, and let them normalize on temp. In effect this was supposed to "press" them into place.

[BlackEclipse]

Yeah... I think JP told me about that and he actually did it.

[Gunner]

Bah, there's a clip that holds it in place. No need for a press or heating anything up. Pry old one out, tap the new one in place. Tighten everything up and you're golden.

[GSXLR8]

I replaced two on the 1G this summer....I left the arms on the car to do that swap...I suggest you take them off...it willmake things a WORLD easier. the theory of freezing and heating would work but is not required. the only problem I had was getting the boot to successfully slide over the new joint once in. I ended up taking a boot to the hardwware store and buying a piece of beveled pvc pipe...about 3 inches long that fit over it perfectly. all I had to do was center things up...and tap it on.
another thing that will make life easier is (not sure of the name of it) tool that graps the holes of a "C" clamp and opens it.
the other option is...buy a complete new arm...that is how the dealer sells them....easier bt more expensive. I think the ones I bought at Advance might even have a warantee for a long time.

hope this helps a bit.