I’ve probably been using the wrong terminology.

the metal structural part that the hub is pushed through, the cv half shaft goes through to connect to the hub, and it also has the rack & pinion attached to. Not sure what it’s called. It has ball joints that attach it to the car.

 

Well its just called a knuckle, but I don't understand what you mean by needing to be pressed in. Every nut is simply torqued to spec. The knuckle has no ball joints, they are located in the control arms.

 

Pictures fix most all terminology problems. Snap a couple pointing out the problem area and post them up

 

A link here to eBay shows what part I’m referring to. It is called a knuckle. The upper and lower ball joints on the knuckle are attached to the upper and lower suspension control arms. Do they need to be pressed in?

https://www.ebay.com/i/273729231675?...SABEgKSH_D_BwE

i didn’t press them in, the upper ball joint threads were cross threaded, so I just put the weight of the car on it. That didn’t work, and when the car was driving and turning, it must have popped out of the upper control arm, hard to believe but yeah. I thought the weight of the car and the attachment of the lower ball joint to the lower control arm would be good enough; however, the lower ball joint popped out, and this contributed to the wheel failure.

do I need to have some kind of press to press the new ball joints in?

 

yes that’s correct. I’m wondering if the knuckle needs to be pressed onto the control arm ball joints because it took a considerable amount of force to knock the knuckle loose from the ball joints.

The lower ball joint did come completely out, so I’m going to replace that one, but also there are damaged threads on the upper control arm ball joint. If I remove and replace them, do they need to be pressed into the control arms? Im doing this work without a shop as I just moved to Seattle.

 

Without seeing what your talking about I would just replace both control arms they come with bushings and ball joints installed. It sounds likely there may be some damage to the hole on the one that was pulled free of the arm

 

no, the ball of the ball joint popped out, not the entire ball joint.

 

Well first you did not need to disconnect he lower ball joint to do the axel shaft replacement. Just the upper ball joint nut and the sway bar link nut, that is all. And I may have done the opposite side sway bar link also just to make moving stuff out of the way easier.

So to me is sounds like you did not secure the ball joint nuts properly. While the upper does not have a lot of direct stress, its a very critical part. The lower is very, very critical and if you had it loose I can possible see the nut being torn off or the ball joint sud breaking. There is noting at all that get pressed in, you simply torque the nut to spec and that is sufficient. They are hard to remove by design and the fact the corrosion helps bond things a little. So again, easy to install but not easy to separate. But if not torqued correctly you have your end result.

 

awesome. Thanks again.

I think I’ve got a plan figured out and know heya to do now. I ordered some thing, and I’ll post an update here later next week. Thanks!!

 

Alrighty, after a few months, and Seattle staying they wanted to tow my non-drivable vehicle, I rushed to do this job, and I finished it effectively in 12 hours!

i replaced the destroyed ball joints that hold up the steering knuckle (the upper one is kind of just all a piece of crap). I reinstalled the cv shaft, replaced the melted brake caliper and bracket, new rotors and pads. It is all together, and it is all working and I’ve driven a few blocks from time to time to satisfy Seattle parking enforcement.

it’s at a shop to ID and fix a coolant issue, I just don’t have the time and patience for that. They found a big hole in the thermostat housing and will replace.

a few other things...




-Head gasket - the shop mentioned that the head gasket could be bad, due to “a lot” of white smoke coming from the tailpipe, but their test was inconclusive. They won’t know until the coolant system is fixed. I did notice a little smoke from when I had been working on it and turned the truck on. But I honestly thought it’s because the truck had been sitting for 5 months and it’s cold out. I don’t think it is truly “white smoke”. Anyways, how long, from start to finish does an LR3 head gasket take? I did one on my 09 bmw 3 series and it was relatively straight forward, 7 hours; ilI may push it to the summer if really needed... it just rains a TON in Seattle during the winter, and I don’t have anywhere covered to put it.

-differential fluid- ? - the shop checked my differential fluid and found it very dark. How difficult is it to change this fluid? I’ve never heard of such a thing because I used to be a sedan owner for all my life. They want 350$ for it. It would cost me pennies, but I’m unsure on how to do it. Any links?

(separate from shop diagnoses) -sunroof seal- (I think it’s the bigger glass one, rear sunroof, leaks just aft of the first sunroof) - I haven’t gotten a straight answer from anyone I call, and I will not take it to the dealer. The sunroof seal has leaked since I bought it. It was never an issue in Alaska because it rains a lot but it’s very light rain or it’s just snow. In seattle, all winter long is HEAVY rain. And it has made the carpet wet in the floorboard and seatbelts get moldy, completely fogged up the interior of the car every night. Any guides to do this? I never thought of it as an issue, but according to some local Seattlites, it has rained more this winter than ever before...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thanks!~~~~~~~~