Good Evening All,

Ive been lurking / learning here but have an issue worth a post.
I bent my lower right a-arm and ordered a new one. I was attempting to remove it, but I cant get the lower a-arm to slide down off the ball joint bolt. I would have thought after the cotter pin and but were removed, a little tap tap tap tapparoo would have done the trick, but its stuck. I dont want to hit it too hard to damage the ball joint.

Any tricks? I have read some posts about this, but they all seem to deal with removing the c-clamp and coming up through the top?

Thanks for any info.

 

I have two yamahas that I have done this same thing to in order to replace wheel bearings...I have always just used a hammer and tapped on the a-arm with a punch...you may need to set the bottom of the stud on a block or something to hold it up and then push the a-arm down. Is the a-arm already damaged? Something else that you may consider is squeezing the shock in with a ratchet strap to allow more play or more room for the lower a arm to swing down. Keep us posted on your progress.
Mudslinger2

 

Mudslinger2,

Thanks for the reply. Model is 05 Bruin 350, 2x4. Yes, the a-arm was damaged, bent it 2 sections. I will try what you recommended; there must be some rust inhibiting it. The other portion of the a-arm, with the bushings, came out with no trouble, but the ball joint stud is holding on tight. Ill update this evening. Have a good one all.

-sadmin

 

Update: Placing a block under the bolt worked great! A-arm game down and was able to remove. I appreciate it.

That bolt, inside the ball-joint spins though now, which im assuming its supposed to do, but getting that nut back on will be a chore without something to hold it in place. I will go hunt down a pickle fork or something.

I was also replacing the joint on the tie rod, and what really sucks is the new OEM joint will not thread onto the tie rod, it seems to be a diff. thread pattern. Guess I will have to order a new tie rod as well.

Thanks again Mud-

 

I may be mistaken but I think that tie rods are backward threaded depending upon which end you are talking...and I may be completely wrong! You need to make sure that you have the end that is made for the side that you need. They are threaded backwards so that you can just turn the actual tie rod and it will lengthen/shorten. Just a thought...check it out.

As far as the stud turning in the ball joint-i know that they spin, but I have never had an issue with getting the nut back on--once you push it into the a-arm again the stud will not spin so freely...may be able to use an impact very carefully to get it to spin on there too.

Keep posting any more questions--they are a lot of very knowledgable people here!

Mudslinger2