[Saab_c900] balljoint removal/replacment on a C900 - tools? tips?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to replace a dud balljoint on my 1985 900i (they all need replacing but one at a time suits me so far!) and am a bit stuck (for want of a better phrase!). I've posted a couple of messages and linked to some pictures via this forum thread:

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Please take a look and let me know what you think. I could well be trying to remove the upper balljoint using the wrong method so please jump in and suggest some ideas! If you're interested in checking out the image galleries themselves, the new image gallery system is accessible at:

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Feel free to create your own Saab-related image galleries and upload your images if you would like to!

Thanks very much for any help you can provide.

Regards,

Craig.

Reply to
Craig's Saab C900 Site
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I wish you would stop talking about galleries and cr@p (below) and talk about the ball joint. It is confusing to understand what exactly is your problem in between plugs for your site.

OK. Whichever way you use, you must compress the coil spring with spring clamps before you can remove the ball joint. See more below.

============================ Spring clamps are like so (and YOU MUST use them as a pair)

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above is about the cheapest style you will get. Look at this page and it lists more tools
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From memory the above ball joint separator would be difficult :-) to use on one of the two balljoints - bottom probably - as there is no space between the threaded end of the ball joint and the hub(?) where the pivoting arm of the ball joint has to fit.

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The advice I remember for doing any work like you do was to put a piece of wood under the top wishbone and the body (the opening in the inner wing) and jam the suspension high, with the weight of the car on the suspension hence you jammed the wishbone high (I then clamped it on top of jamming it).

WARNING. Inner wings have been know to collapse when used to jam the spring in place.

Once you take the pressure of the spring from the wishbone you can try to remove the balljoint.

First outwards ie. remove the ball joint from the wishbone then the final separation. ===============================

I only had to remove one ball joint and by then (because of cv boot experience) I found the easiest way for me was to:

a. jam and clamp spring as described above. b. Remove two bolts of brake caliper and suspend from coil spring c. remove clip from inner boot of drive shaft. d. remove bolts of both upper and lower ball joints e. remove drive knuckle thingie

Take the complete hub off on the bench, you can then replace ball joints CV boots and admire it :-)

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Even if you don't go for complete removal you may need to do step (c) and less likely (e) to give you enough room to pull the ball joint outwards from the wish bone. You will pull out first then you will take it off the hub.

Now I hope someone will correct my recollections.

Regards Charles

PS. Is this photo from this job

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wheel bolt being knackered?Or is this an older photo? Maybe I don't want to know the answer :-(

Reply to
Charles C.

"Craig's Saab C900 Site" wrote in message news:mailman.16.1128230129.559.saab snipped-for-privacy@lios.apana.org.au...

This is the simple way of doing classic 900 ball joints if you do not have the `correct` tools, Take off hub cap, loosen cv nut and wheel nuts, jack up front of car and place on axle stands at the front jacking points and remove wheel. Swing hub outwards so the track rod end is easier to get at, undo nut and remove tre by giving the steering arm a whack with a hammer where the pin of the tre goes through, A two pound hammer is about the best size.Now place a jack under the lower wishbone where the ball joint is located and jack up until the shocker starts to compress a little, undo lower shock nut [11/16af] and pry away shock from mounting pin, lower the jack under the wishbone, this allows for the the tension on the joints to be released, easier and safer than chocking up the top arm. The next two steps are not mandatory but it makes it easier, undo brake calliper [and cable if fitted], hang up brake calliper up to prevent strain on brake hose, undo cv nut and tap inwards with a copper hammer, some do requre a bit of a wallop to get them to move, undo through nuts and bolts on joint in question and swing hub outwards by tapping hub where the joint goes through if needed, undo ball pin nut, using the good old two pounder a few sharp wacks on the pin eye and out she pops. It is definately worth doing both joints at the same time as checking for play without taking the tension of first is nigh on immpossible and I have seen 900`s pass their mot with ball joints that are on the point of failure. Reassembley is the reverse of what you have done [quote from Haynes manual]. HTH Tom, Saabtech.

Reply to
Tom

Ok, I did c900 balljoints recently, and this is totally not true. You just need to insert spacers between the body and the upper A-arm, as detailed in the Bentley manual (and here's a tip from me- if you're not using the offical Saab spacer tool, make sure the spacers you use on either side of the A-arm are the same size. Otherwise the A-arm gets twisted a bit by the pressure of the spring and it's really tough to get the ball joints in and out of the A-arm). Also, I used a cheap ball joint fork rather than a press tool. It took some hammering, but it worked just fine.

Good luck,

John

Reply to
John B

Me thinks you are wrong

(a) you did not read all the message where I mentioned jamming up the suspension (ok you mentioned spacers).

(b) The idea of using the clamps is over and above jamming or spacing the wishbone as they will take a lot of the tension whether the tension goes on the wishbone or on the inner wing. Both of which - according to your and my message - are known to collapse.

(c) The book does not tell you to use clamps nor does it tell you that your 15-20 year old car will collapse if pressure is put in the wrong place.

And if you are lucky you will have done only small damage to the alignment of the wishbone. And that for a tool that costs (in Blighty any way) 10GBP versus a fork that costs half that.

Charles :-)

Reply to
Charles C.

Ok, fair enough. But I think that if you can't see any cracks in the A-arms and the body is rust-free, it's probably ok.

Yes, I fully acknowledge the superiority of the press tool. I ended up using a fork because I couldn't find an alternative in the time I had alotted for tool shopping that day. Any damage incurred by the wishbone has yet to manifest itself, though of course it could be subtle.

The main thing is that none of my wheels have fallen off. Yet.

John

Reply to
John B

Fair point Charles. I'm sorry if anyone's getting offending by mentioning the links into bit's of my sites in most of my postings. If anyone wants to talk about this more please email my privately and we'll nut it out.

I have made up my own upper control arm spacer tools which take the place of Saab's special tool. Dave New's balljoint guide shows bundles of washers taped together but I made something using pieces of 44 mm high blank rack panel cut up and bolted so that the rough-cut edges dig into the dirt and crud and won't slip out when the jack pushing up the lower control arm is lowered again. I do have some pics on the site - won't post the URL at the moment unless someone asks.

There is a little trick here - I took off the brake disk after removing the brake caliper and holding it up with some wire (pics are online of this - more on the digital cam which will come off later today). Then I undid the three small 10 mm head bolts holding the protective plate onto the steering swivel member and moved it forward, which then provides plenty of access to get a tool (press or seperator fork as I used) into the bottom balljoint.

I'm trying to avoid going that far. I ended up enlisting my wife and between the two of us we worked out that we hadn't been hitting the end of the fork hard enough and after more brutal (controlled!) hitting with the hammer, the swivel member dropped off the top ball joint! The bottom ball joint was easier to remove and replacment was much easier since the whole lower control arm could then be moved downwards with relative ease to slide the new balljoint into place.

He he yes that's the side I have been working on. The car came to be with the wheel stud broken - that definitely is a press job to get out.

That side is mostly all back together now but I've had a really good look at all the bushes and they're all going to need replacement before I re-register the car later in the year. I'm going to start with the shock bushings and replace them with poly ones to try them out.

I've got a really good close-up picture of the brake caliper piston from that side of the car which I need to pull off the camera. The caliper is in a bit of a sad state so I'm not sure whether to have a go at rebuilding it or just buying a remanufactured caliper to replace it.

Regards,

Craig.

Reply to
Craig's Saab C900 Site

Never heard of this happening but if the car has been abused and spacers have not been used in the past the body metal could well be deformed or damaged and not be able to take the pressure. My home-made spacers spread the load out and will not slip out - that's just as important as having them the same size, etc.

Craig.

Reply to
Craig's Saab C900 Site

No brother, it is simple. Use a footer in your email messages separated by two hyphens like in my message, then you plug your site there.

No wonder you live in a dry country

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Yes you could undo the bolts of the disk guard ... mine 1983 model (long gone to where all good old cars go) was - how to put it - a bit rusty.

Well worth working on your car.

Charles

Reply to
Charles C.

I don't think I'm your brother. 8-) I do use a footer - it's called a .signature in *nix parlance.

Craig.

Reply to
Craig's Saab C900 Site

Honestly I looked for the signature (I thought that was windoze talk) and did not see it. I must have looked in my quoted reply which correctly cut it off. APOLOGIES to you :-)

Now on you go to read my reply about the nut and the A arm :-)

Charles

Reply to
Charles C.

I agree with Tom's method of whacking the "pin eye" and have used the following modified method for years:

Upon removing the ball joing nut, if it is a "castle type" I turn it over and thread it so it is flush with the top of the ball joint stud. Then I apply some pressure through any clamp or spreader I can to put the ball joint stud under pressure (pushing the ball joint out). Then a little bit of pentrating oil to help loosen any rust that may have formed between the ball joint stud and retaining part (steering knuckle, control arm, etc). I then whack the top of the nut to drive the ball joint out. Sometimes if it is stubborn, I will whack the retaining part perpendicular to the ball joint stud to set up a vibration allowing the pentrating oil to work its way in.

Using this method I have never damaged a boot or a frame part. The pressure on the ball joint stud reduces the amount of hammer force needed to cause a successfull separation. I use the same method for tie rod ends and any other similar joints.

Jim

87 C900 RIP 87 C900S RIP
Reply to
Jim

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