[Swamp Donkey]

I am tryign to install the knuckles on my front 60 and the lower ball joint is NOT cooperating! I try to turn the nut, but the stud just turns with it. I have put a jack under the knuckle and put the weight of the truck on it and it still does it.

I obvioulsy can not hold the back side b/c it is a balljoint and it is impossible to hold it with a screwdriver from the top. And no I can not use an impact because it is the lower joint.


yeah yeah yeah, kingpins rule :banghead

Please help me out I am sulking with a beer now

 

[Dustball]

I use an impact with a swivel socket and a 12" extension, works well.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

OK, this is ridiculous. I pretty fed up now. I bought a swivel socket and even with the impact the stud still turns. I have since rigged up a way of keeping a good amount of force on top of the stud and it continues to turn. Ball joints can not be this difficult. Either I am doing something wrong or the nuts or balljoint threads are bad. :banghead :banghead

 

[RLKBOB]

Blow it out with a torch

 

[Swamp Donkey]

What? I am trying to install the knuckle onto the axle.

 

[NOBS!]

loctite the taper.

 

[rmyers2051]

Trying to install,

Does your 60 have the top inner adjustable sleeves like the 44 has? If so read the directions on the ball joint install, it will tell you to remove the sleeve(really not necessary just back it out a couple of tturns), it is there to preload lower joint, not backing it out will make it near impossible to reinstal knuckle even with original joints.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Does your 60 have the top inner adjustable sleeves like the 44 has? If so read the directions on the ball joint install, it will tell you to remove the sleeve(really not necessary just back it out a couple of tturns), it is there to preload lower joint, not backing it out will make it near impossible to reinstal knuckle even with original joints.

HOLY CRAP! I have know idea why that works, but it did. I reread the instructions and it said to reinstall thesleeve after securing the knuckle to the axle. You were dead on man. Thanks alot.

I tightened the lower to 150lbs like it said

 

[rmyers2051]

HOLY CRAP! I have know idea why that works, but it did. I reread the instructions and it said to reinstall thesleeve after securing the knuckle to the axle. You were dead on man. Thanks alot.

I tightened the lower to 150lbs like it said

Don't ask me how I know that was the magic answer

 

[tigertank]

balljoints

had same problem. balljoints have pretorqed nuts causing them to get tighter as you turn them. threads are slightly off so they dont come loose. i put mine into a vise before installing them and tighten the nuts a few times to loosen them up.this kind of defeats the purpose but if i didnt they would just spin the shaft instead of tightening. just add a little loctite to the threads and torque them down to the proper foot pounds and they will be fine.also putting a jack underneath the balljoint only MIGHT work if the nut wont break loose because of the pressure. putting pressure underneath only pushes the balljoint farther up letting the shaft spin.

 

[TTBlows]

loctite the taper.

LOL, I was gonna say to throw a couple tack welds on the taper. Hey, it COULD work! Maybe..........kinda sorta.........

 

[rmyers2051]

balljoints have pretorqed nuts causing them to get tighter as you turn them. threads are slightly off so they dont come loose. i put mine into a vise before installing them and tighten the nuts a few times to loosen them up.this kind of defeats the purpose but if i didnt they would just spin the shaft instead of tightening. just add a little loctite and torque them down to the proper foot pounds and they will be fine.also putting a jack underneath the balljoint only MIGHT work if the nut wont break loose because of the pressure. putting pressure underneath only pushes the balljoint farther up letting the shaft spin.

My friend I don't know who you been listening to, but I believe the cartoon channel is off limits to you for a while.
"Pretorqued Nuts"??
"Threads Off Slightly"?
ROFLMAO!!
Thats priceless!

 

[78bronco460]

That's a hoot. Loctite a taperlock? I wonder if that balljoint would ever come out of the housing ear after that trick.

 

[NOBS!]

That's a hoot. Loctite a taperlock? I wonder if that balljoint would ever come out of the housing ear after that trick.

med.strength....and ya it does.you don't have to smear it on like someones old lady slobbering on a dick

 

[jopes]

med.strength....and ya it does.you don't have to smear it on like someones old lady slobbering on a dick

still dreaming of head I see.


the nuts do not spin on easily because they are locknuts so they do not back out.

locktite is removable with heat, usually.

 

[tigertank]

My mistake,they are not "pretorqued nuts". They are called "prevailing torque nuts". I will try to be carefull in the future. Dont want to give false info.that might cause problems for someone. A castlenut will not work on the lower balljoint because it will interfere with the universal joints on the front axle.They are to tall. Thats why you have a prevailing torque nut instead.They came with the balljoints that I bought and I could see why they dont supply castle nuts for the lower joints. When you try to tighten them they will thread for a couple of turns and then become tighter as you go this is why the taper will start to spin. There are no nylon inserts inside these nuts so my best GUESS is that the threads are slightly off as you go down.If anybody has more info. on how they work I and others would like to know. This is all based on putting all 4 balljoints on an 86' Bronco and everything is solid.

 

[Shadofax]

. There are no nylon inserts inside these nuts so my best GUESS is that the threads are slightly off as you go down.If anybody has more info. on how they work I and others would like to know. This is all based on putting all 4 balljoints on an 86' Bronco and everything is solid.[/QUOTE]

If there were no nylon inserts, then your guess would have been correct:

"The prevailing torque is the torque required to run a nut down a thread before engagement with the joint surface. This resistance can be provided by a nylon insert or a distorted thread profile. A prevailing torque can significantly affect the amount of preload provided by the fastener for a given tightening torque. "

 

[tigertank]

Thanks juice! I checked the net and found some companys that manufacture these nuts. Learn something everyday. They use these nuts in everything from missles to jet aircraft, heavy machinery and apparently our trusty old Broncos.

 

[rmyers2051]

Thanks juice! I checked the net and found some companys that manufacture these nuts. Learn something everyday. They use these nuts in everything from missles to jet aircraft, heavy machinery and apparently our trusty old Broncos.

OK, your off the humor hook. I do aplogize for poking fun at you, you can after today resume watching the cartoon channell(I get to start tonight!)
If you still are not clear; the nuts are "dimpled" with a staking die on each side-ever so slightly as to cause the nut to have an eccentric shape to it,this does as an effect cause it to be a self locking type nut, after a few cycles of installing and removing it begins to round out and no longer is effective as a locking nut.

 

[tigertank]

Thanks rmyers, had you pegged wrong at first,I have watched cartoon channel all day , how do do you think I stop my truck? Fred Flinstone style of course! Feet through the floor board.I am new to this sight only to get and give the best help possible, have gotten some great info .so far and want to give back the best I can based on my work as possible.Would really like to know how others have tightened these nuts! I used an Ingersoll Rand Thundergun (If you are new to this tool it has a 10,000rpm rating ive had swivel sockets and universals fly off at the touch of the trigger!) to remove the balljoints in a c-press after mounting the knuckles in a big vise.Then I installed the new balljoints in the knuckle using the c-press and my impact wrench. Finally I ran the lower balljoint "prevailing torque nuts"up and down a few times so that they wouldnt cause the taper to spin. Then a little locktite on the threads to keep them down and finally torquing them down with a torque wrench to what I think was 110 ft.lbs.TOOLS,TOOLS ,TOOLS cant stess this enough you have to have the right tools for the job!!!!! If I remember right it was aprox.70 bucks for the c-press and Firestone wanted 350 bucks to install the joints.It felt great to do it myself and they are rock solid. You could do it with hand tools but it would be a HUGE job and you would never get the new ones in without the press.