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This is a 2006 G35 rwd. I'm trying to get enough clearance to put the ball joint press but as you can see it is pretty tight. Is the solution to simply keep jacking up the lower control arm until I have enough clearance and keep it jacked up until the new ball joint is in?


I am worried that if I keep jacking the control arm too much the joints circled in red in pic below will be damaged. Any suggestions?

 

Dude you do not jack up by control arm.

First what you should do is disconnect your sway bar. it makes it much easier to work with suspension. In order to remove that ball joint, you better off removing the whole spindle. I tried using the C clamp while it was still on car and it was pretty impossible to get it done correctly without anything slipping.

Removing the spindle isnt too hard. If you dont know how to do it... i'll write it out. If you do know, then get it off the car and its easier to mount the C-clamp and with air tool pop it out. Just so you know, without air tools you wont be able to get that ball joint out.

 

A how to on removing the spindle would be awesome right about now.

 

Interested as well^^^ as my front right ball joint has a busted boot, no movement can be felt though.

The inner edge of that side tire has also got some cupping, are those symptoms of a bad ball joint? Alignment is in check besides some added camber+rake but its even and the left side tire has no cupping. Don't think it's the shocks because I can't feel any shimmy and they don't bounce like bad shocks.

 

Okay so I didn't want to listen but removing the spindle is EASY compared to removing the ball joint without power tools on the car...Also to the guy that said to remove the end links, turns out he was right too, mine were torn. I'm almost wondering if I should just replace lower control arm, car has 120K on it and all is stock.

I give up on removing this ball joint without power tools. If anyone is in the Inland Empire and has power tools to remove the ball joint from the spindle I'll bring it along with some beer otherwise I'm just going to take it to a shop and have them take it out and put in new ball joint.

This youtube clip is what i followed to get the spindle out:

 

All you need is a ball joint press, you can rent one at any auto parts house, doesn't have to be pneumatic, a screw-type will work just fine.

You're not going to get the ball joint out (and the new one in) without the proper tool to do so, not without wrecking the spindle.

 

PHATRABBITZZ ... Removing spindle is easy-ish. As i said i just did this not long ago and it made the whole swap much easier. One thing to be aware is that you will need to find a master ball joint remover kit. Regular ball joint press kit like you get from autzone will not work. You will need a master kit that has various sizes attachment. If you taking this to a shop hopefully they have it if not it'll be a hassle for you to find it. I found a good one from advanced auto parts part of the tool loan program. After its all about patients and pressing the old one out and new one in.
DO NOT buy new control arms. Not worth it. Just buy the whiteline bushings. One for the shock and one for the inner side. Have the oem ones pressed out and white line pressed in. TRUST me make a world of difference.
Sway bar links can easily be bought on line. If you dont have any suspension work or sway bars, dont go over board buying beefy ones.
ALSO, while you have most of it apart, take a look at your radius arm. What you look for to see if the bushing thats between the body and the brace is in good condition. If its torn or cracking, may as well buy white line for it and replace that as well. Pressing the bushing out should be anywhere from 15 to 30 and will be worth while option.

 

myGspot, thanks I'll take the ball joint press kit to the shop. I have a complete kit with all the proper fittings, not the regular kit. I actually got some of it out already when it was on car. Is there a specific way the shop should put the spindle in the clamp to hold it in place while they use the press kit to take ball joint out/in?

Just placed order for ACDELCO 46G0345A/6A for the end links.

 

you can hold it by hand no need to lock it in vice. i was helping mechanic so we both did it you can say without a vice

 

I'm getting my ballpoints replaced with the Z1 Motorsports joints soon. My mechanic recommended to spray penetrant into the ball joints liberally, and multiple times, ahead of the install to loosen things up. Sounds pretty reasonable to me given the posts above.

 

That all depends on where you live, we desert people don't need to pre-soak nearly us much as those coastal or winter folks.

 

In case anyone wants to learn from my mistakes here is a quick recap.
1) Don't bother renting any press tools or jaw pullers.
2) Don't buy snap ring pliers or grease guns, or the cone that sits on top of ball joint
3) Remove the entire spindle, and do not waste time with the ball joint.
4) Find a machine shop that will replace the actual ball joint and grease it.

This was my first ball joint replacement ever and I did not have any air tools. Could've been done in a 10th of the time if I didn't waste so much time trying to get the ball joint out myself. I also didn't need to buy the cone that sits on top of the ball joint since the shop was able to remove it from the torn ball joint. The shop charged me $20 per ball joint.

 

It's definitely easy with the proper tools, glad you were willing to try though

 

Heard good and bad about mevotech ball joints (as supplied by Z1) and read about swapping the boots with ES boots etc.

Decided to buy MAS ball joints with part number MAS BJ61035XL
They seem to have good construction and are the "premium" choice on rockauto - compared to "Daily Driver" for the Mevotechs. Shall update when I get the part and fit it.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....1431984&jsn=13