Ball joint nut spinning

Boss Hogg

Registered User
In the middle of installing LCA's and i'm almost finished but with two problems. I cannot tighten the ball to joint to LCA nut or the sway bar end link nuts without the bolt spinning in place. I have already done a search and have tried previously listed things such as jacking the LCA up ( i have jacked to where the R. side of the car is suspended by the LCA. I don't have an impact wrench. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated as I am getting frustrated!!
 
This may or may not help - lower the car completely onto the floor, then lift it up and back onto the jack stands, then try to tighten the nuts.
 
PIA it is....you jack the lower control arm ...but it just lifts the upper control arm ...along with the shock and spring with the sway bar ... i needed to put something between the upper control arm and top of inside fender ...moved jack ...to lift on ball joint ...on the bottom of the LCA..and then jacked some tension into the ball joint .didn't need alot of jacking force ..just enough to stop the ball joint from turning ....dave
 
On my 89 SC the factory sway bar end links have an internal 3/16" hex on the balljoint studs. You insert an Allen wrench in the end of the stud while tightening the nut. Unfortunately, I screwed up the boots at the sway bar end while replacing the front shocks so I bought some TRW replacement links. Those don't have the internal hex so it looks like I will be resorting to the impact wrench to get the TRW's tight. :mad:
 
The trick is to find a way to get some load on the stud where it fits into whatever sleeve it fits into. Usually, a combination of raising the car by the stud which will force it into where it goes and pulling with some sort of lever such as a 2x4 will work to get the nut started and tightened enough to do a final torque.

Sometimes forcing it sideways a bit will work. Just be careful you don't apply any force to the threads themselves that would cause them to bind. :cool:
 
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