CA inner ball joint removale, socket size?

[peller]

Well I started to take my CAs off to be replaced and realized I don't have a socket big enough to remove the nut that mounts the CA's inner ball joint to the subframe. It looks like a 20-22mm but I'd appreciate it if anybody could tell me what size it is before I make 3 trips to the autoparts store. ...removale..hah i suck at life
Thanks!

[StereoInstaller1]

22 mm. I recommend a stubby wrench, open ended. I could not find onne locally, so I used a cheapass harbor freight wrench, but I bent it with a sledge hammer and a curb, so it is curved about 3".

Works great, but I would still rather have a stubby.

Luke

[JasonC]

The shortest 22mm wrench that i found was at auto zone. worked fine on the driver side, but hit my LT header on my pass. side. So it was slow getting the pass side off at a 1/4 of a turn at a time. I should of bent it like said above, then it would of went alot faster.

[wagonizzle]

If it is easier to find a 7/8 stubby than a 22mm stubby (it was for me), use that. It is only off by .05 and works fine. Have fun with that one; I hate that bolt.

[Jand3rson]

You're never going to get it off with a stubby wrench. Ever.

You need two long handled wrenches, one of them a 22mm on the nut, and another long wrench, locked onto the end of the 22mm as kind of a breaker bar (insert the open end of the 22mm into the box end of the second wrench, making it so they interlock), and just pull on that sucker.

[peller]

Thanks guys. I had a 7/8" lying around that did the trick with the help of a pipe to loosen things up. Passenger side was a fucking PITA! The old nuts had locktite on them; I assume I should do that and torque them as much as I reasonably can?

[fwappy]

Funny, mine came off with almost no effort at all. But how in the hell do you pop it out?!?! I've posted several times about this.. I have literally deformed a pickle-fork and bruised my forearm, and I still haven't budged it. The bolt just won't pop out!!!!

[AndrewBird]

Funny, mine came off with almost no effort at all. But how in the hell do you pop it out?!?! I've posted several times about this.. I have literally deformed a pickle-fork and bruised my forearm, and I still haven't budged it. The bolt just won't pop out!!!!

When doing Josh's recently, we used a pneumatic pickle fork. Big fucker too! A small one wouldn't move the thing enough to pop it out.

[matt]

Take the motor out and hammer it from the top.

[PeaveyBassist]

Take the motor out and hammer it from the top.

lol If you cant get it off, why not just cut the balljoint stud off? Then the arm will fall off pretty easy.

Will

[JGood]

Yeah, that would make removal of the leftover stud very easy.

The passenger side is the biggest PITA nut/bolt on an e30.

[jlevie]

In a worst case scenario, you can drop the subframe to get the inner joint free. It isn't that hard to do, but you'll want a helper when it is time to reinstall the subframe.

[wagonizzle]

You're never going to get it off with a stubby wrench. Ever.

Ever? I also used a pipe and just pried on it and POP - loosey goosey. How many others have done it this way? 2 in this thread so far :p

[peller]

Yeah, I wrestled with the fucking thing for hours trying to get the CAs off, finally took a 22oz framing hammer and beat the shit out of the bolt ontop of the outer ball joint. It finally popped loose, and then I hit the inner ball joint bolt from above with a long pipe. On the driver's side when I hit the outer ball joint the CA just dropped right out. If you plan on reusing the CAs make sure you keep a nut (loose) on there because hammering the bolt will fuck the threads up pretty bad.

Turn the steering wheel to each extreme to get some more hammering clearance (or take the rotors off).

[mayhem]

I used my cordless impact with about a foot and a half of extensions and a knuckle at the end. Went through the top of the car and crank on it for a split second and it all fell out. It helped that the exhaust was already removed from the exhaust manifold.