ugmw177
Well-Known Member
while i would not reuse lca bolts, i have reused shock absorber bolts previously and they were fine. if they have excessive rust or damaged threads i would not
bad lower ball joint lead to howling?
- Thread starter ftillier
- Start date
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powershift
Full Access Member
How is your project coming along? I might be right behind you lol.
I had a really hard time getting the ball joint loose, even with a 4lb hammer. Gave up on violence and got a ball joint separator kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CT1XTK9 - it worked really well. Getting the arm rotated in such a way that the ball joint comes out of the knuckle was a PITA, getting it back in also. But the LCAs are now in, and I'm glad I replaced the bolts because the old ones were pretty rusty. I find it weird that the bolts get inserted the way they do - the ridges in the frame to engage the excentric washer are on the "outside" only, and it would seem better to have the bolt with its built-in washer go in from that side, not the opposite, including better clearance for a wrench wrt the catalytic converter. There's a little bit of play between the bolt shaft and the second washer, so it seems weird to have that be the one that indexes the system. Anyway, put it all back together, the new bushings are so much nicer than the poly when going over road imperfections. Still need to get it aligned, but I am now getting a suspension fault and the front is sagging fairly quickly, so will need to get that sorted before I can do that. Drives pretty straight as is, though, and the ball joint did nothing for the howling noise (as expected.) New hubs are arriving Wednesday, barring weather delays, and assuming we keep power (just had a 2 day outage) I should be able to get those installed by end of week. Once I sort out the suspension issue I will schedule my alignment at the dealer - tired of the indy shops giving it back to me with the wheel crooked.
Also, I compared the Lemforder LCAs to the ones that came off (which look like the original, at least they have the Land Rover stamp). I compared the Lemforder ones and the only difference is the land rover stamp was ground off before they were painted.
Got the new Timken hubs installed and I'm happy to report that the noise is gone. There's still a clunk in the steering somewhere, but that's a problem for another day.
lol my dealer subs alignments out to a tire shop.
I tried two indy shops that specialize in land rover. First time they sent me home because the lock but on the tie rod was frozen. Replaced both tie rods and went back, came back with the wheel off center. Took it back again and this time it came back even more crooked. Took it to another shop, they got it closer, but couldn't get rear camber in spec. Said the eccentric bolts for the lower control arms wouldn't give enough range, but that's not how you set rear camber. Drove it home and the wheel still wasn't straight. Took it back again, they got it closer, and claimed the rear is at the limits of adjustment due to the ride height being set too high. They offered to reset the ride height, for a fee. I’ll be setting it with my IID Tool before bringing it in for the next alignment.
powershift
Full Access Member
Congratulations. How much money and effort was it to replace the hubs?
The two hubs were a $505 from Lucky8. I got extra axle nuts ($18), but it turns out the hubs come with, so that wasn't necessary. I had asked them and they said they didn't. No biggie. Things came apart easily, thankfully there are videos for how to knocking the hub out, as there's not a lot of places to swing the mallet. Once I had enough of a gap I used a wide (in one direction) but thin (in the other) prybar - I just don't like hammering on things, it seems a bit crude. Standard gear puller worked to release the axle on the driver's side, and the passenger side just popped out with finger pressure. Some of the nuts require high torque values that were a pain to reach in contrained spaces. Steering to allow the wrench to rotate helped tremendously. I used steel wool to clean up the mating surfaces, there was a lot of rusty metal dust stuck to the driver's side wheel sensor. I put anti-seize grease on the mating surfaces, but not the bolts (couldn't find the torque correction factor for it). Probably took me 6 hours to do both sides, working late at night in a cramped garage in the cold. Definitely wasn't rushing things, and some of that time was spent contemplating my life decisions.
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