getting axle back on after boot pops off..?

[One to Remember]

I was changing the lower control arm off of my 1993 ford tauris lx 3.8 and in the process i wound up taking the ball joint off and when I tried to put the whole assembly back together the axle would not go back in and the tri pod end would not fully set in the housing.

I believe I need to take the giant nut off of the center of the wheel assembly and pull the axle end freely from that but after i get that put back in the tripod housing how do i get the bar inside of the shock to go back in place? When I try to jack it up now it starts to move at an angle where i cant even get the ball joint back on it. I'm wondering if i need to remove that bar from the assembly part that has the wheel nuts, debris shield, etc? What tool would I need to separate that with if so? And do I need to put the axle grease in the housing while its exposed or can it be put in some other way?

[Architect]

Originally Posted by One to Remember

I was changing the lower control arm off of my 1993 ford tauris lx 3.8 and in the process i wound up taking the ball joint off and when I tried to put the whole assembly back together the axle would not go back in and the tri pod end would not fully set in the housing.

I believe I need to take the giant nut off of the center of the wheel assembly and pull the axle end freely from that but after i get that put back in the tripod housing how do i get the bar inside of the shock to go back in place? When I try to jack it up now it starts to move at an angle where i cant even get the ball joint back on it. I'm wondering if i need to remove that bar from the assembly part that has the wheel nuts, debris shield, etc? What tool would I need to separate that with if so? And do I need to put the axle grease in the housing while its exposed or can it be put in some other way?

The tool to use is a puller and you need a long 30 mm socket to get the nut off.

On the other hand, I do not think you need to do this.

I assume you still have the control arm disconnected from the subframe and the stabilizer bar link only attached to the strut (and not to the stabilizer bar) to have more room.

What I understand from your description is that you try to get the ball-joint stud back in the control arm while the strut is in the wheel knuckle. Although this is indeed the exact reverse from the way you got the control arm off the knuckle, this does not work. The reason is that the stud can easily move in its ball-joint housing and while you lifted and pulled it sideways out of the control arm, it very shortly moved in a 45 degree position, a move that cannot be reproduced in reverse.

So in this specific case, assembling is NOT the reverse of disassembling. For assembling, you first have the strut freely hanging from its loosened 3 bolts in the motor compartment. Then you push the ball-joint stud into the control arm (and put the castle nut on). Then you wriggle the strut into the knuckle (and insert the pinch bolt). Note that also this procedure certainly cannot be reversed: wriggling the strut into knuckle under some pressure is easy, wriggling it out under that same pressure is impossible.

Now you have to get the control arm bushing back onto the subframe. You lift the knuckle a bit with a jack until it is high enough to push the control arm back in its place on the subframe.

Since the long bushing bolt has, for obvious reasons, very little play, it is difficult to get it back in. So you first put in a slightly smaller bolt (under some wriggling while the knuckle is still standing on the jack) on the other side of the bushing. Then you remove the jack and wriggle the long bolt in the bushing from the other side, pushing the temporary bolt that keeps the control arm in place, out again.

After that you can put the jack under the knuckle again to align the stabilizer link with the stabilizer bar and put the nut on.

[One to Remember]

Originally Posted by Architect

The tool to use is a puller and you need a long 30 mm socket to get the nut off.

for that bar surrounded by the shock or to get the axle end out of the middle of the wheel assembly after that 40mm nut comes off? And by the way i rented a 30 and while it did work on my '94 it fits kinda lose and i wonder if i can find a 29mm just as a precautionary meassure?

On the other hand, I do not think you need to do this.

I assume you still have the control arm disconnected from the subframe and the stabilizer bar link only attached to the strut (and not to the stabilizer bar) to have more room.

the lower control arm, the cross looking thing is hooked in properly on the from with that bolt and nut and hooked in properly up front with the big nut that faces outward and is right under the grill or bumper..

If the stabilizer bar is that plastic looking bar thing that attaches to something going into the car, back past the main tire well. then it attaches up top to a part of the "shock bar" correct?

By subframe you mean frame?

What I understand from your description is that you try to get the ball-joint stud back in the control arm while the strut is in the wheel knuckle. Although this is indeed the exact reverse from the way you got the control arm off the knuckle, this does not work. The reason is that the stud can easily move in its ball-joint housing and while you lifted and pulled it sideways out of the control arm, it very shortly moved in a 45 degree position, a move that cannot be reproduced in reverse.

i tried to lift the shock bar up then jacked it up and couldnt get it over the ball joint stud. When I jack it up the springs compress but the bar kinda moves outward at the bottom actually getting further from the ball joint stud. i used a pickle fork to get the BJ stud free and it stayed at its angle but yes i can move it in its housing around and i can point it towards the think the bj stud came out of but its no where near close to drop it back down onto the stud. its not even the stud moving 45 degrees its that bar in the shock i cant keep centered.

So in this specific case, assembling is NOT the reverse of disassembling. For assembling, you first have the strut freely hanging from its loosened 3 bolts in the motor compartment. Then you push the ball-joint stud into the control arm (and put the castle nut on). Then you wriggle the strut into the knuckle (and insert the pinch bolt). Note that also this procedure certainly cannot be reversed: wriggling the strut into knuckle under some pressure is easy, wriggling it out under that same pressure is impossible.

the strut is the same as the shock bar, i see. i thought that was a good rout to take off the bat but i thought to myself that the springs might push back to hard at me when i tried to get the 3 nuts back on.

Now you have to get the control arm bushing back onto the subframe. You lift the knuckle a bit with a jack until it is high enough to push the control arm back in its place on the subframe.

Since the long bushing bolt has, for obvious reasons, very little play, it is difficult to get it back in. So you first put in a slightly smaller bolt (under some wriggling while the knuckle is still standing on the jack) on the other side of the bushing. Then you remove the jack and wriggle the long bolt in the bushing from the other side, pushing the temporary bolt that keeps the control arm in place, out again.

After that you can put the jack under the knuckle again to align the stabilizer link with the stabilizer bar and put the nut on.

so your saying i need to take the ctrl arm off the frame? i cant take the 3 nuts off the top of the strut then wiggle it to where the ball joint is then put it back in place? im also kinda confused to how the tri pod came out of the axle housing to began with.. once i force the tripod in far enough its going to just stay in place i guess?

[Architect]

Oops.

I wrongly assumed that your suspension was basically the same as mine (2000 Taurus) but looking at the control arm in the Rockauto catalog I realized that is not the case.

I'm sorry.

[One to Remember]

i pretty much figured it out im just wondering how i can get that strut spring compressed without a compressor if possible..?

[Breeves002]

Do it the right way with a spring compressor. It's really easy to hurt yourself if you do it the wrong way. Don't want a spring going through your head! People have done it other ways, but I don't recommend it.

[SoNic67]

Originally Posted by One to Remember

for that bar surrounded by the shock or to get the axle end out of the middle of the wheel assembly after that 40mm nut comes off? And by the way i rented a 30 and while it did work on my '94 it fits kinda lose and i wonder if i can find a 29mm just as a precautionary meassure?

The OE nut is 29mm - I have to buy one specially for that. All the "replacement" nuts that I saw are 30mm.

[One to Remember]

Originally Posted by Breeves002

Do it the right way with a spring compressor. It's really easy to hurt yourself if you do it the wrong way. Don't want a spring going through your head! People have done it other ways, but I don't recommend it.

idk, a spring might help me with the ladies if its stuck in the right place.

i want a step by step on that to see if its worth the hassle or danger. the issue is i dont have enough money to compress the spring and have the giant 30 mm at the same time. i can order another compressor online for 9 bux but then i have to return the socket for those dollars. the rental tools at my stores are 50 to 62 bux..

[intimidator]

Originally Posted by Breeves002

Do it the right way with a spring compressor. It's really easy to hurt yourself if you do it the wrong way. Don't want a spring going through your head! People have done it other ways, but I don't recommend it.

I had a spring pop off a spring compressor....went right through the ceiling of the shop...was interesting to say the least...USE A PROPER SPRING COMPRESSOR....PLEASE. They do a quite a bit of damage.