Toe arm bolt

[allowe]

Anyone ever do toe arms? This nut keeps spinning in place, it won't get loose because the balljoint spins.


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[allowe]

it's been 6 hours and this nut keeps spinning


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[Ultramaroon]

Oh, that thing is fucked. Feeling your pain.

The part that is spinning has a taper so it wedges into the axle carrier. Can you tighten it down hard and start over again?

That male thread looks destroyed/worn down. Was that rusted, or is it from 6 hours of struggle?


If you can't get the nut off, it may be time for a dremel and a stack of cut-off wheels.

Or, if you can just grind off the right parts of the base flange (of the nut), you might be able to get in there with a nut splitter.

[allowe]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Oh, that thing is fucked. Feeling your pain.

The part that is spinning has a taper so it wedges into the axle carrier. Can you tighten it down hard and start over again?

That male thread looks destroyed/worn down. Was that rusted, or is it from 6 hours of struggle?


If you can't get the nut off, it may be time for a dremel and a stack of cut-off wheels.

Or, if you can just grind off the right parts of the base flange (of the nut), you might be able to get in there with a nut splitter.

Hey thanks for your reply! I'm stuck and have no idea what to do! The other side of the toe arm is bent to shit I can't put it back in. The bolt won't tighten. It spins freely. I ripped the rubber thing out and there is a ball it's spinning on loosely. I legit don't know what to do anymore . I've soaked it with pb blaster. It can't be that hard to open. How do mechanics do it??

I was thinking of using bolt cutters but only a small one fits and it doesn't cut it.

I tried:
Pb blaster, drilling it, hitting it a couple times with a hammer, using impact gun on it for 20 mins straight, torque wrench, bolt cutters.

Any other ideas that might work?

Thanks for your reply again


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[JoeC]

can you not get a torch in there? that would have it off in a matter of seconds.

[Ultramaroon]

For starters, you're dealing with a typical ball joint. Same technique goes for control arm ball joints and outer tie rod ends.





Notice the taper. Tightened down, that thing wedges in there HARD. I'm surprised by your predicament. Hell, I've never heard of it happening. The typical struggle is getting the damn thing apart. I use a pickle fork.



Hopefully that helps make sense of my suggestion to cinch it back down first so you can remove the nut.

Maybe try giving it a whack from underneath to get a start wedging it in. Don't want to do that with a new one but this one's toast.

Also to wedge in tightly, you actually want the opposite of lubrication. Try rinsing it out with some brake cleaner before tightening.

Let me know what you think.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by allowe

[................] it's been 6 hours and this bolt keeps spinning. There is a ball inside that won't catch! Anyone dealt with this before it's driving me nuts ?

Now, THAT allowe is a MESS.

If you have tried everything that @Ultramaroon has suggested and it still won't come off ...... I's suggest you try the @JoeC approach.

If you don't have cutting torch, or you're afraid of starting your car on fire ...... I'd suggest you use the humfrz approach.

Which is, drive or drag that car to a automotive shop and have them fix it proper.


humfrz

[allowe]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

For starters, you're dealing with a typical ball joint. Same technique goes for control arm ball joints and outer tie rod ends.





Notice the taper. Tightened down, that thing wedges in there HARD. I'm surprised by your predicament. Hell, I've never heard of it happening. The typical struggle is getting the damn thing apart. I use a pickle fork.



Hopefully that helps make sense of my suggestion to cinch it back down first so you can remove the nut.

Maybe try giving it a whack from underneath to get a start wedging it in. Don't want to do that with a new one but this one's toast.

Also to wedge in tightly, you actually want the opposite of lubrication. Try rinsing it out with some brake cleaner before tightening.

Let me know what you think.

Wow that actually might work. I do have a impact gun, should I use it with those forks?

I was also thinking, needlenose vice grips


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[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by allowe

Wow that actually might work. I do have a impact gun, should I use it with those forks?

Nah. First, you won't need anything that drastic for this job. It's already loose. Second, I've always had better luck with a BFH than with an impact gun.

Consider using this for the little job.

I was also thinking, needlenose vice grips

For what? Serious question.

[allowe]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Nah. First, you won't need anything that drastic for this job. It's already loose. Second, I've always had better luck with a BFH than with an impact gun.
But the nut is stuck. It won't come off. The balljoint spins while I use the impact gun
Consider using this for the little job.


For what? Serious question.

The nut is still on I can't screw it off. The ball keeps spinning. It's not loose bro



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[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by allowe

The nut is still on I can't screw it off. The ball keeps spinning. It's not loose bro

Yes. That's why you need to get it wedged in tight; so it stops spinning and you can remove the nut.

Then you can separate the ball joint from the carrier.

[Ultramaroon]

Or, like I said earlier, cut off the nut with a dremel and/or a nut splitter. That's pretty much it.

No need to fuck with torches.

[allowe]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Or, like I said earlier, cut off the nut with a dremel and/or a nut splitter. That's pretty much it.

No need to fuck with torches.

Thank for your help man I'd buy u lunch if you were close to me!

So I got it out:


I used the scissor jack and jammed the side of the ball joint at the bottom in the slot, and kept using an impact wrench. Kept shooting it tight and loose and the nut moved up so slowly but it came right out at the end. I can't even screw it back on (only to test)

I put the new arm in and did a rough adjustment myself. The car drives fine now but there is a "whomp whomp" sound that comes out over 70 km per hour. Any ideas on what it could be ? I'm thinking maybe bearing


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[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by allowe

Thank for your help man I'd buy u lunch if you were close to me!

So I got it out:


I used the scissor jack and jammed the side of the ball joint at the bottom in the slot, and kept using an impact wrench. Kept shooting it tight and loose and the nut moved up so slowly but it came right out at the end. I can't even screw it back on (only to test)

I put the new arm in and did a rough adjustment myself. The car drives fine now but there is a "whomp whomp" sound that comes out over 70 km per hour. Any ideas on what it could be ? I'm thinking maybe bearing


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Could be the bearing or you are really out of alignment. I don't care how confident people are in their eyeball calibration an alignment can not be done without proper equipment. Step one would be to0 jack it up and spin the wheel and pull on it from side to side to see if there is any obvious bearing play. Step two is either replace the bearing or get a real alignment. Neither step should include any driving around at speed since the results if something fails could be way worse than hitting a curb.