Friday
I wake up at 8:00 AM and get started fixing my neighbors car. (2002 Chevy Malibu) I had to replace the Radius Arm Bushings on the drivers side of the car, the passenger side was by far the hardest. I had to replace the Radius Arm Bushings on the other side too, as well as replace the lower Ball Joint and a Control Arm.
My neighbor had already provided the Bushings for both sides, she had no clue how hard it would be though. I knew it would be hard but not THIS DAMN HARD. So I started at about 8:00 and started spraying the hell out of some lugnuts in the car near the bushings with WD-40 but it didn't work. I shouldv'e sprayed them the night before. I removed a bunch of stuff that was in the way and found one lugnut that was really stuck in place. I don't know how it couldv'e been so tight. It's torqued at 90 lbs but then add 3 years of rust and dirt, and it shouldv'e been only at 120 lbs. Here's the first place where I had to use a lot of strength: Removing that nut. It's almost in the center of the car so I have little room to screw it out with a wrench, then add the fact that I'm only 7 inches off the ground. It took about 30 minutes to get that one nut out, it also took a lot of my strenght to pull it out. Why it was so hard to get loose is beyond me.
I got the Bushings replaced and put everything back together by 10:30. I had the drivers side done but the
harderof the two left.
My question of the day: How the hell could someone drive 113,000 miles in just under three years?
I went inside to rest for a while then came back out at around noon. I replaced the bushings on the other side in around two hours. I had the same problems too, but this time I did it a little faster because I knew
exactly what to do now.
By the time I was done with that, I was done for the day.
Saturday
I looked at the ball joint and got scared. It looked like it would be a bitch to take out. THIS was the beginning of the hardest part.
I took everything out of my work area to get some room. Then started hitting the old ball joint with a small sledge hammer. Nothing worked, I pounded on it and took small breaks for around an hour and a half but it
didn't move one bit. I called Advance Auto Parts and asked "How the hell can I get this ball joint out" and they said that you use a special tool to help push it out. I was thinking it was a hydrolic press but it had to be manual labor.
I'm done for today.
Sunday Forth of July.
I got the tool from Advance Auto Parts, which cost $92 to rent. When I take the tools back to them I'll get the $92 back. I had to pay for it by myself though.
The tools in the box that I had rented were: three two inch metal cylinders of different widths. Used for positioning the other tools so I could press the ball joint out. A large metal bar. (Basically a large screw, I push that into the ball joint pushing the ball joint out), some pieces of metal to hold the other stuff in place, and a clamp. (Sort of)
I fit one of the pieces of metal (I don't know exactly what it's called -_-) on the bottom of the clamp, then I add one of the metal cylinders on top of that. The ball joint comes next, so I position that stuff under the ball joint. Next I'm supposed to add another one of those cylinders on top of the ball joint. Then comes the top piece of metal. Then I push the screw in and the joint pops out.
No. It had to be hard. First when I got all that stuff on it didn't even fit over the ball joint. The clamp wasn't big enough. I called Advance Auto Parts again to see if they had a bigger clamp, and they didn't. I was very pissed at the time. So I just started beating the hell out of the top of the ball joint with a hammer again. Seeing as that was my only option at the time.
That night I returned the removal kit and one of the workers said if I used a torch to heat up the ball joint it might slip right out. Which could actually work.
It's night time and I'm done. Time to see some fireworks =D
Monday
I have to get it done by today, I've wasted too much time.
I heat up the ball joint with a torch just like the guy said and it started melting around the arm that holds it in. "Mother fucker" So that's when I got desperate. I still had the removal kit because he said I could
still use it. So I try using the kit again, I put the metal pieces on the top and bottom of the clamp and the two cylinders in the middle with the ball joint in the very middle. It didn't fit but I saw that it could, so I had the neighbor smack the bottom of the clamp with my hammer to see if it would go into place from there. And go figure...she smacks me in the finger with the hammer. After about 10 minutes of cussing the car out
because my finger hurt She came up with a solution. I put my 1/2 inch thick rachet on the giant screw that was in the removal kit, then used a 4 foot long bar and stick it through the rachet, to help me pull a little. I pull it about 10 times and I hear something snap. "Please let it be the ball joint getting loose" and it actually was. I pulled one more time and my 1/2 inch prybar snapped in two! "What the fuck do I do now?!!!?!"
I started beating the top of the ball joint with a hammer yet again and the ball fell out. And the bar that was wedged into the arm was loose too.
So I did the thing I was doing for the past 4 days I smack it with a hammer again, and if falls out. MISSION FUCKING ACCOMPLISHED.
I had to put a new ball joint back in but that wasn't hard at all. But now I had to replace the control arm, I just told her to give someone $50 and have them do it. All together she gave me $80 for the job, I couldv'e gotten $100 if I did the arm but it's not worth it.
My last words, I'm not going to do that again. I don't care if it costs $200 to get it fixed, I'll let someone else do it. I'll never touch it again.
Any questions or comments?
I wake up at 8:00 AM and get started fixing my neighbors car. (2002 Chevy Malibu) I had to replace the Radius Arm Bushings on the drivers side of the car, the passenger side was by far the hardest. I had to replace the Radius Arm Bushings on the other side too, as well as replace the lower Ball Joint and a Control Arm.
My neighbor had already provided the Bushings for both sides, she had no clue how hard it would be though. I knew it would be hard but not THIS DAMN HARD. So I started at about 8:00 and started spraying the hell out of some lugnuts in the car near the bushings with WD-40 but it didn't work. I shouldv'e sprayed them the night before. I removed a bunch of stuff that was in the way and found one lugnut that was really stuck in place. I don't know how it couldv'e been so tight. It's torqued at 90 lbs but then add 3 years of rust and dirt, and it shouldv'e been only at 120 lbs. Here's the first place where I had to use a lot of strength: Removing that nut. It's almost in the center of the car so I have little room to screw it out with a wrench, then add the fact that I'm only 7 inches off the ground. It took about 30 minutes to get that one nut out, it also took a lot of my strenght to pull it out. Why it was so hard to get loose is beyond me.
I got the Bushings replaced and put everything back together by 10:30. I had the drivers side done but the
harderof the two left.
My question of the day: How the hell could someone drive 113,000 miles in just under three years?
I went inside to rest for a while then came back out at around noon. I replaced the bushings on the other side in around two hours. I had the same problems too, but this time I did it a little faster because I knew
exactly what to do now.
By the time I was done with that, I was done for the day.
Saturday
I looked at the ball joint and got scared. It looked like it would be a bitch to take out. THIS was the beginning of the hardest part.
I took everything out of my work area to get some room. Then started hitting the old ball joint with a small sledge hammer. Nothing worked, I pounded on it and took small breaks for around an hour and a half but it
didn't move one bit. I called Advance Auto Parts and asked "How the hell can I get this ball joint out" and they said that you use a special tool to help push it out. I was thinking it was a hydrolic press but it had to be manual labor.
I'm done for today.
Sunday Forth of July.
I got the tool from Advance Auto Parts, which cost $92 to rent. When I take the tools back to them I'll get the $92 back. I had to pay for it by myself though.
The tools in the box that I had rented were: three two inch metal cylinders of different widths. Used for positioning the other tools so I could press the ball joint out. A large metal bar. (Basically a large screw, I push that into the ball joint pushing the ball joint out), some pieces of metal to hold the other stuff in place, and a clamp. (Sort of)
I fit one of the pieces of metal (I don't know exactly what it's called -_-) on the bottom of the clamp, then I add one of the metal cylinders on top of that. The ball joint comes next, so I position that stuff under the ball joint. Next I'm supposed to add another one of those cylinders on top of the ball joint. Then comes the top piece of metal. Then I push the screw in and the joint pops out.
No. It had to be hard. First when I got all that stuff on it didn't even fit over the ball joint. The clamp wasn't big enough. I called Advance Auto Parts again to see if they had a bigger clamp, and they didn't. I was very pissed at the time. So I just started beating the hell out of the top of the ball joint with a hammer again. Seeing as that was my only option at the time.
That night I returned the removal kit and one of the workers said if I used a torch to heat up the ball joint it might slip right out. Which could actually work.
It's night time and I'm done. Time to see some fireworks =D
Monday
I have to get it done by today, I've wasted too much time.
I heat up the ball joint with a torch just like the guy said and it started melting around the arm that holds it in. "Mother fucker" So that's when I got desperate. I still had the removal kit because he said I could
still use it. So I try using the kit again, I put the metal pieces on the top and bottom of the clamp and the two cylinders in the middle with the ball joint in the very middle. It didn't fit but I saw that it could, so I had the neighbor smack the bottom of the clamp with my hammer to see if it would go into place from there. And go figure...she smacks me in the finger with the hammer. After about 10 minutes of cussing the car out
because my finger hurt She came up with a solution. I put my 1/2 inch thick rachet on the giant screw that was in the removal kit, then used a 4 foot long bar and stick it through the rachet, to help me pull a little. I pull it about 10 times and I hear something snap. "Please let it be the ball joint getting loose" and it actually was. I pulled one more time and my 1/2 inch prybar snapped in two! "What the fuck do I do now?!!!?!"
I started beating the top of the ball joint with a hammer yet again and the ball fell out. And the bar that was wedged into the arm was loose too.
So I did the thing I was doing for the past 4 days I smack it with a hammer again, and if falls out. MISSION FUCKING ACCOMPLISHED.
I had to put a new ball joint back in but that wasn't hard at all. But now I had to replace the control arm, I just told her to give someone $50 and have them do it. All together she gave me $80 for the job, I couldv'e gotten $100 if I did the arm but it's not worth it.
My last words, I'm not going to do that again. I don't care if it costs $200 to get it fixed, I'll let someone else do it. I'll never touch it again.
Any questions or comments?
Comment