camry v6 balljoint removal: advise needed from a tech

try also asking at Yahoo groups Toyotas_Only

you need to join (free) first, but several techs participate in that group and I'm sure they can answer your question

you could also try

--------- let us know what you find out

You need to use ring-spanners. Open-ended wrenchs do more damage than good on tight nuts. Once the nut is loose,..you leave it entered a few threads to protect the threaded section of the ball-joint (in case you need to use it again later). You then need to 'spring' the taper that the balljoint's peg uses. This can be difficult if you haven't done it before, but basically, you apply some separating force by the judicous use of a bottle-jack,..the using 2 hammers, simultaneously strike both sides of the casting around the peg from both sides (ie 180 degrees apart), The peg will come out, with only the castellated nut stopping it falling right out. Remove nut and that part of the lower arm is free.

The same procedure applies to all cars. Some use a puller to apply the separating force.

Jason

Jason, I assume what you mean by a ring spanner is what is also referred to as a flare wrench; open on a single side. I don't think I can even get that on there unless I remove that dust deflector, but I'll check again to be sure.

thanks

dave

If you go into auto-barn,..you'll see spanners which have a complete circle on one end and an open ender the other. Or you may see double-ended ring-spanners. These are the only spanner to use apart from sockets, on cars.Open enders are useful for taking off an allready loosened bolt or nut,..or doing one up. A socket or ring-spanner does the hard work without rounding off the hex-corners. Ring spanners also fit in tight spots very well.

best o luck

Jason

Harbor Freight has a tie rod end puller that is the right size for the ball joint for $6.95 in my area. I believe the "ring spanner" is what we call a "combination wrench" or "box end" wrench - but as I understood the original poster's question, he can't fit one of those without removing the dust shield and wanted to know how to press fit a new one, or if the old shield could be re used.

BTW, the hot ticket for front end work is an air powered impact wrench. I bought one to change the front axle, and if you could fit an impact socket for the ball joint would easily spin off that castellated nut - I realize this doesn't answer the question about the dust shield. -- so I looked up the official procedure in the Toyota Factory Service Manual, Volume 2. Looks like the dust shield is just a thin piece of sheet metal. The official procedure says you pry out the old one using the tip of a flat bladed screw driver - so it couldn't be pressed in too tightly if they're telling you just pry it out with a standard screw driver. For installation they show a special tool - and driving it in with a hammer -- but they show special tools for many things. To drive in a seal, generally all you need is something the same diameter that you can hit with a hammer. For example, in driving the crankshaft oil seal without a special tool, I found a piece of plumbing drain pipe at Home Depot that was just the right size and drove it in with a small 2 lb. sledge hammer, carefully tapping. If you're lucky, you'll find some kind of pipe that can be used to drive the dust shield back in. As a less desirable second alternate, in a pinch, you could probably find a way to use a cold chisel or drift punch carefully working around the edge, but would be much better to drive it in flat with a pipe because you're pressing it flat all the way around all at once.

one more thing . . . doesn't look like you need a new dust shield - if so, the manual would state "non reusable part"

Just an update on this. I actually had to remove this driveshaft dust deflector to torque down a new balljoint. I ended up buying one ($13.50) at a Toyota dealer just in case, but it actually came out fairly easily with a screwdriver undamaged. I ended up getting off the old balljoint nut with a different 19mm spanner wrench. It was also fairly easily to tap back in with a hammer and small wood block, but to do it you really need to remove the strut from the knuckle to get better visibility.

The control arm/new balljoint changeout was another story. Turned into a bit of a nightmare when I ended up stripping the bolts on the new balljoint that was preinstalled on the new afermarket control arm. I was not too happy with that. I also found out that the new control arm bolt holes for the ball joint were not large like the oem part in order to accept the special collar bolts the oem balljoint uses. I think next time I will try to find a rubber bushing set for the existing oem control arms and get them pressed in. I've heard they exist.

Thanks for all the replies here.

Dave