just like the title says, this write up will walk you step by step through the process of replacing the rear lower ball joints on an s13 240sx.

Difficulty-6 out of 10, its not really hard, just lots of manual labor tools needed- hammer-torch -1.5 inch and 2 inch galvanized pipe- bench vice- torque wrench- socket set- other common hand tools

materials -b12 sentra front ball joints

**note- the entire upright does not need to be removed for this project. Mine are removed though for other work being done to them, therefore my pics and description will show the whole unit being removed**

STEP 1- getting started This article isnt intended to walk you through the steps of removing the uprights and hubs, but rather to focus on the ball joints. With this in mind, it's up to your own know how and the fsm to get the uprights off the car. once you get to this pointyou're ready to get started.remove the cotter pin holding the axle as well as the adjusting cap and the large nut holding the axle into the hub. after the nut is removed, remove the axle shaft. you may need to lightly tap the end of the axle to loosen it. be sure to use a piece of wood to prevent damage to threaded end of axle. after the axle is out lay it aside until you're ready to reinstall it

STEP 2- remove the upright and hub

Once the axle is out of the way, remove the cotter pin for the ball joint and zip off the nut. Leave the nut on the first several threads and tap lightly with a hammer to separate the upright and rear lower control arm. You could also use a pickle fork if you'd like. the downside would be that it would destroy the ball joint, but if your replacing it it doesn't really matter. everything should look like this nowlay the upright aside with the axle, seeing as you're done with it for now

STEP 3- remove the ball joint from the rlca

take the rlca with old ball joint and place it into a bench vice so that the ball joint can easily be hit with a hammer.take the oxy acetylene torch and heat the bottom of the ball joint and surrounding metal. this extreme heat will loosen it up for the hammer. it works best to have someone help by heating it while you hit the ball joint after a few hits the rlca should look like this repeat until both are sans ball joint

STEP 4- install new ball joints I cleaned up and repainted the rlca since the heat blistered the paint. also, make sure to clean out the opening of any burs that would prevent the ball joint to install smoothly. get out the new ball joints, its time to use em. i got mine from advanced auto for $26 a piece. old vs new pic

now your ready to bust out your homemade ball joint press. you can always rent one from a parts store, but this was easy and i had everything i needed laying around already. you'll need a piece of pipe big enough to fit over the the ball joint and rest against the rlca and long enough to easily clear the stud endfit the ball joint in with your hands just so it'll stay in placethen its time for the other part of the homemade ball joint press, a short piece of 1.5 inch pipe. 1.5 inch is exactly what it'll take to rest nicely on the ball joint's lipyou only need a piece long enough to clear the bottom of the ball joint so it isnt damaged by the vice. if your pipe pieces are too long it might not fit in the vice.all together it should look like this

now stick it in the vice and get ready to crank on it

STEP 5- apply some muscle all you need to do at this step is crank the vice as tight as you can and make sure its going in evenly. i wailed on the vice handle with a heavy hammer to squeeze it in the whole way

STEP 6- finishing touches once its seated fully, it should look like thisnow just put on the snap ring and dust shieldrepeat for the other side and you're done. reinstall rlcas and uprights with the new ball joints, torquing the nut to 50 lb ft then installing the cotter pin. reinstall all components doing the reverse of removal and torquing to factory spec. hope this was helpful, now go enjoy the new ball joints.


Modified by White Comet at 9:55 PM 11/24/2008

fantastic work man. now, how the HECK did you figure out the age-old puzzle of "what nissan oem balljoints are the proper taper and size for my 240sx?" i wanna know this.

btw whitecomet=lifesaver for budget 240 owners. bringing the heat!

thanks, the praise means a lot coming from another very meticulous 240 builder. there was a thread mentioning that the b12s work better then the b13 joints. the sizes and tapers are closer to those of the actual s13 ball joint. i inspected em pretty closely upon picking them up and their perfect

ooooh boy... now i crave more suspension bits

btw, what was the total cost to have ALL bushings pressed outta the arms/knuckles? subby?

Muchas Gracias for the write-up. I always knew there was a debate over what ball joints fit, you have to get a whole new lca, etc, but you summed it up awesomely, and the pics are the icing on the cake. 10/10 good sir.

sweet:)

Sweet!! I had heard about using Sentra balljoints before, but you made it clear...thanks man!!Nice write-up!

good job WC!

Nice write up!. It will be very useful for rebuilding my daughters 240's rear end. it is completely shot! Anyway..what model year Sentras were these ball joints on?

the exact ball joints i got were for an '89 sentra moog part number K6933.

greeneyes's- Miller's repair did the rlcas and uprights (10 bushings total) for $130. kinda pricey but the upper bushings on the uprights were a real *****, and im running out of time i i figured i'd have someone do it for me let me know if you want to do yours some time, i have all the tools to get is done quickly.

thanks for the props everyone, i hope it comes in handy

badass write up!

you articles are def some of the only ones i read (threads too)

gen chat needs more quality writing.... hummmm i might add this to my list to do might need a hand too seeing as i dont have a bench press or torch (as of yet)

awesome man, yeah let me know if you want to do this at my garage soemtime. once my car is running i'll have a lot more time so it'd work well. and if you were to pick up the stock rlcas we could install the ball joints and then swap to the so your cars not out of commision for so long

Great write up! I'm going to order a pair of the ball joints Monday, hopefully I'll be able to get them installed in a few weeks. Oh, I found the same ball joints for only $20.41 shipped for the pair, $10.99 each and $9.42 for shipping.

nice, who makes them? i trust moog so thats who i went with

The balljoint removal tool available from the local parts store (giant C-clamp with different sized sleeves) works very well.I was able to remove and replace the balljoints in quite literally a few minutes once the spindle was removed.And there are a couple of threads relating this information in the wheels, tires, and suspension section, though none of which is as detailed as WC's thread here.

thanks, yeah i was gonna rent the tool form advanced auto but it was $200 to rent, and even though you get your $200 back when you return the tool i didnt have a random $200 laying around for that

nice write up. its been a while since something informative came out of here.

Dude really nice write up. Those ball joints are so cheap that this is something everyone should do to freshen up the responsiveness of their suspension when doing RUCAS or other parts.

Awesome find man, so fresh!

thank mang, yeah its one of those things that i wasnt planning on doing but now im sure i'll be glad i did

If you're REALLY lucky you get to bolt the rlcas and uprights to a rear sub frame this clean looking

should have went with spl bushings my friend

sololock wrote:should have went with spl bushings my friend

Are you talking about subframe bushings?

WC,I wish I saw this thread before I bought mine. I got a new set from dealership. Can you post picture of rubber bushing/cover? I want to see how it looks like.

sololock wrote:should have went with spl bushings my friend

you kidding? solid aluminum on a street car?

94, i'll snap pics tomorrow for ya.

White Comet wrote: you kidding? solid aluminum on a street car?

94, i'll snap pics tomorrow for ya.

ill take that dare... and i should... for the new power goals...

talk to me. do it. you know you wanna

you can go right ahead. i am curious to see how that would feel but i think i'll like something a little more forgiving. its also nice that the es pineapple bushings are half the price of the spl alum ones

WC, do the ball joints (moog #9633) work for an S14 LCA as well?

I guess I'll answer this one then. Moog part #K9820 (which is for the S14 FLCA) will fit on the S14 RLCA. I should know, I just pressed them in.

I'm also trying to replace the RLCA bushings with some energy suspension one, but they are a b1tch! I already torched out the bushing part, now all I got left is the the inner sleeve. Tomorrow I will try to saw out the sleeve that is left. Any tips on this?

I also used the Energy Suspension subframe bushings and i love them but i didnt use the s13 stackable ones for my s13 i used the s14 and about 4 washers stacked ontop of the stock washer to hold them in.

BTW, Whats exaclty is the advantage of using a different ball joint. How come you just didnt replace them with s13 ball joints? Are they more expensive? Do the B12 Ball joints they perform better?

locoluna825 wrote:BTW, Whats exaclty is the advantage of using a different ball joint. How come you just didnt replace them with s13 ball joints? Are they more expensive? Do the B12 Ball joints they perform better?

They don't make ball joints for the S13 RLCA, that is why you have to use ball joints from the B12's.