The ball joints are shot. I'm taking a 700 mile trip this Sunday. How difficult is it to replace them and about how long should it take? My manual makes it seem like a walk in the park.

an easy suggestion: on the anchor bolts (4 of them), wipe the threads with a little bit of touchup paint before you install them.

regards,
byron golden
86 245
92 245

I use my wifes nail polish whne LOCTITE isn't handy. She's not too happy with the little grime that ends up on the brush .but.... hey
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

Yes, it is a DIY job.

Today is Wednesday, and you absolutely MUST have the front end aligned after the job. Get an appointment set up for Friday afternoon at the latest.

If I could not get the alignment done before the trip, I might risk the trip with the old ball joints still in place.

Bad alignment can mean a car that's difficult to control/steer. BTDT

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

I'm a pretty unsophisticated home mechanic and I did it. I did one side at a time but disconnected the sway bar on both sides first. Reattach sway bar after changing ball joints and wheels on the ground, done on your back. Not a bad time to pop new rubber bushings on the sway bar since you have done the hard part. Spritz a rust remover on the all bolts ahead of time. Ideally you should have a torque wrench but even that isn't required. A good set of metric sockets and open end wrenches will do. However, after you renew the ball joints you probably want to align your front end as soon as practical.

It is a walk in the park compared to any US domestic you've ever done this on. Just pay attention to the manual where it says to lift both wheels so the anti-sway bar doesn't add undue tension on the control arm. Or if you can only lift one at a time, disconnect the bar.

Since doing my first BJ replacement on a '78 245, only to have it rejected on the Conn. state inspection (excessive negative camber), I first leave the 3 bolts in the control arm just barely snug, then drive the lower end inboard to take up any "slop" before tightening the bolts.

That's all it took to go back and pass that test the next day .
In that car at least, there was enough slop/play in those bolt holes to make the Negative Camber obvious to the naked eye, when looking at the car head-on from maybe 35 feet away.

I have never had an alignment done after BJ replacement, using this max inboard "adjustment".

--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.