Suspension torque and tightening ball joints?

[Chrisbike]

Hey all, just got my iX on the ground so.

Are the RWD specs the same as iX?
Outer ball joint 47ft/lbs
Inner ball joint 61 ft/lbs (impacted on and backed off to torque)
CAB bracket bolts 30 ft/lbs
Swaybar to link 30 ft/lbs (tightened with ratchet and Allen key)

Is the inner ball joint nut suppose to be locking? I have a nut/ washer and I put some blue loc-tite on the nut..

Also I'm having trouble tightening the ball joint nut.. Can't really use a crowfoot on DS then hold the stud, I don't want to use a impact.. I also tried using the jack to put pressure on the ball joint which it still spun. I'm using a 22mm socket with a wobble/ normal extension. I know I can't use anything but a wrench on the outer. How many turns is approx 40ft lbs or should I just get it tight? Thanks again guys

[flyboyx]

slide a floor jack under the ball and push it up against the body. they will tighten that way without issue unless your threads are buggered up. as far as the torque specs go, stop being so damn anal. they are close enough. you aren't rebuilding an engine here. jesus!

[Chrisbike]

Better check my threads. I did that jack just under the ball joint itself and it still spun. I'll try again. As for the suspension torques that's what I thought but I'm conviced that suspension torques are almost as important, plus I don't want to have to go back to it and have to loosen on tighten it on the go.. Thanks

[Kershaw]

I loosen the inner with an impact + extensions. I tighten it with an 18" breaker + extensions. The outer I just tighten with a 22mm wrench. I get things nice and tight, but I don't go crazy on them. 30ft/lbs is not a lot. I've been ball parking them for years, never had an issue with them going loose. Stripping/seizing from being too tight though, that's been an issue a few times.

[AndrewBird]

As tight as you can get them with a normal length ratchet is fine. Not a critical torque spec, you just want to make sure they are tight. Over tightening them won't hurt anything unless you tighten them so far you snap the bolt off.

[Kershaw]

And then you're going to have a bad day.

[nando]

it's actually pretty surprising how easily the stud can shear off the end of a strut insert. At least with the camber plates, it's physically possible to use a wrench to tighten it down instead of a socket like the original strut mounts.

I never broke a stud off but I'm pretty sure the adjusters on my old Konis broke off due to impacting them on too many times.

[Chrisbike]

I'm going to be tightening everything today. I've been finishing up other assembly of the car and haven't got to it. I actually ordered a socket from turnermotorsport a while back that has a cutout in it for a Allen wrench to fit. So that shouldn't be an issue.

[Chrisbike]

I did not ruin any threads. I kept trying and ended up tightening the inner ball joint with a impact and loosening it to torque it. Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm about to get her back on the road tommorow. Anyway is the axle nut torque 149 Ft Lbs? 200 NM? And is the axle nut torque the same on all corners? Im going to have to get a cheater bar and a 30mm 6 point because 12 point keeps slipping. Here's a picture of my engine bay now that it's together. I like red..

[Nisse Järnet]

Looks pretty! Did you lube the threads? That helps (and you should to get a correct torque reading)

[Chrisbike]

Thanks Nisse;

If your asking if I lubed the axle nut threads. No, I drove the car today and the suspension feels much more responsive and planted than last time I drove.

I ended up replacing the strut mounts, outer ball joints, tierods, swaybar links and cutting the Billy HD bump stops..

I went ahead and torqued everything to spec except the axle nuts which I impacted on. But I'm going to get them retorqued while getting the alignment done and put in new lock plates.