[s-cars] Grrrrr - rear track arm r&r

[Fred Munro]

Ah yes, the infamous spinning inner balljoint frustration.

Noah, you have to get the tapered balljoint shaft to seat so it will remain
stationary while you tighten the nut. A couple of good whacks with a
deadblow hammer while slowly turning the nut have always worked for me, but
it sounds like you've tried that with no success. If you have grease on the
taper or have worn it by spinning it too much with an air impact wrench, you
may have a problem seating it.

I suggest you pop it up to the limit allowed by the half-installed nut and
give it a liberal spraying with brake cleaning fluid to remove any lube from
the taper. Whack it back in place and try again with hand tools ( dumb
question, but you haven't cross-threaded the nut, have you?). If it still
spins, put a deep socket over the nut and use a small puller against the end
of the socket and the top of the ball joint to pull the taper into the seat.

Good luck!

Fred Munro
'94 S4


-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces+munrof=sympatico.ca at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces+munrof=sympatico.ca at audifans.com]On Behalf Of
Noah
Sent: June 10, 2004 5:27 AM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: [s-cars] Grrrrr - rear track arm r&r


Latest S-car drama:

I replaced suspension at all four corners, only to find that I had a new
annoying rattle in the passenger rear corner. I lifted the right rear and
messed with the tire, found a clunk in the track control arm. I set about
replacing both sides. Got the passenger side on without issues, on to the
driver side, everything goes without any hassles until I go to put the nut
that holds the inner balljoint back on and I can't stop the damned thing
from spinning! I got the nut back on about halfway to where it needs to be,
and now I can't get it to come off or go the rest of the way on. spinning,
spinning, spinning.... What have I tried? well, I've tried beating on the
joint while spinning it and I've tried taking everything around it off and
holding it with a prybar to try to keep it seated in there, but to no avail.

Since I couldn't get the nut to either go all the way on or come off, I
decided to put the car back together and drive it home. I figured that I
would have a clunk in my rear similar to the one I had on the other side.
But NOOOO! The drivers side is dead silent and my passenger side is still
clunking!

If I had any hair I would have ripped it all out by now.

Suggestions?

-Noah

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