How hard is it to change the ball joints on a 96 Sunfire? Are they fairly easy to change with a ball joint separator?
haha. balljoints ar a bitch. i you either have to drill the rivets out or grind the heads off. i did bothe. and then you use a punch to punch them out. then you can seperate them. have fun. and make sure you support th car well and get an alignment when done.
Grind one side off and just hammer it out with a center punch. Drilling them out is a PITA
You should use a pickle fork and seperate the ball joints from the control arm. Sometimes you need an air hammer to get them the rest of the way out.
Good luck, I've done ball joints on quite a few cars they arent to bad.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
The only easy way is to swap the lower a-arms with good ones from a junk yard. If I chose to change just the joint I would grind the rivits too.
( NOT FUN AT ALL, I would not recommend it if you dont have the right tools)
Make sure that the punch that you use is the same diam. as the rivit shaft , and use just a couple of hard blows. If you hit it too many times with too small of a punch you will actually expand the rivit shaft center tightening it in the hole. One more thing, make sure that you dont over tighten the new bolts for the new one, they will twist right off if you really wrench on them.
01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e
So ball joints are not something I should try on my own with a Sunfire? I am mechanically inclined, I think that I could try to replace the ball joints, are the ball joints really that much of a pain to remove? I refuse to give a mechanic his boat payment
yea they suck to change especially on the car. thats why i usually drop the k member for easier access.
Mr Sunfire wrote:So ball joints are not something I should try on my own with a Sunfire? I am mechanically inclined, I think that I could try to replace the ball joints, are the ball joints really that much of a pain to remove? I refuse to give a mechanic his boat payment
Thats BS about the boat payment. Mechanics are actually very underpaid. At a union shop the most a mechanic can make now is $27.69/hour, compare that to an eletrican, plumbers, etc which make in the mid $30s, construction workers make $39, and they went on strike here in IL, now over the next four years it will go up to $51/hour. I'm not saying we arent paid well, but we paid the best either.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Rob S wrote:Mr Sunfire wrote:So ball joints are not something I should try on my own with a Sunfire? I am mechanically inclined, I think that I could try to replace the ball joints, are the ball joints really that much of a pain to remove? I refuse to give a mechanic his boat payment
Thats BS about the boat payment. Mechanics are actually very underpaid. At a union shop the most a mechanic can make now is $27.69/hour, compare that to an eletrican, plumbers, etc which make in the mid $30s, construction workers make $39, and they went on strike here in IL, now over the next four years it will go up to $51/hour. I'm not saying we arent paid well, but we paid the best either.
^^amen to that....And we spend the most money on tools...
oh and the ball joints suck big time...i rather replace the whole contol arm and be done
I didnt think it was bad. Popped off the tops of the rivets with an airgun, and put them in.
I have used an air chisel for this too, It works well too, but I didnt suggest it because the grinder is a more common tool for most people.
ONE MORE THING, I for got to mention if you grind the heads off let it cool down before you punch them out. The heat actually will expand the rivit more than the cast (ball joint) making it harder to drive out.
01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e
Okay I have been working on ball joints for two days I have decided to break down and buy control arm. What size socket do I need to get the two bolts for the control arm off? Thanks.
