learning about ball joints

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Michael Harrison - 27 Nov 2004 21:02 GMT

Hello all, I own a '90 PU with the V6, 4x4, 4''lift on 33's with 301K. I'm
taking apart my tie rod end from the steering knuckle and i made the mistake
of using a hammer to dislodge the stud from the knuckle. now the tapered
stud seems to be firmly attached to the ball joint but it spins so freely i
can't get the nut to torque up. Is this normal or is something broken? how
can I create the torque necessary to tighten it up? Any help would be
appreciated.

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Edmechanic - 28 Nov 2004 09:29 GMT

> Hello all, I own a '90 PU with the V6, 4x4, 4''lift on 33's with 301K. I'm
> taking apart my tie rod end from the steering knuckle and i made the mistake
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> can I create the torque necessary to tighten it up? Any help would be
> appreciated.

Using a hammer to seperate a ball joint is a well known
procedure. There are some caveats like try to hit the outside of the
female end and leave the nut on loose so you don't mess up the threads
if you accidentally hit it. And also try to hit inline with the
supporting arm of the female end.
Usually when you tighten the nut it pulls the tapered stud in and
wedges it and I have no problem tightening it. So I figure you either
damaged the male or female wedge or messed up the thread so the nut
pulls the male taper around. If it is the thread you could try to
clean it up with a die.

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Michael Harrison - 01 Dec 2004 05:32 GMT

>> Hello all, I own a '90 PU with the V6, 4x4, 4''lift on 33's with 301K.
>> I'm
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> pulls the male taper around. If it is the thread you could try to
> clean it up with a die.

Ahh I see. We ended up just pulling the stud downwards to lock it back into
the ball joint. I didn't know about the wedge. Thanks for the help! Great
newsgroup guys, I've learned a lot just from browsing through the threads.

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