Hi Guys, In the process of changing some ball joints on my 360, was all going quite smoothly until I’ve come to clean out the previously applied hysol. In an effort to shorten this journey of discovery does anyone have any tips. I’ve tried car paint thinners, loctite adhesive remover, brake cleaner, nail varnish remover, scotch brite (as per the wsm). It won’t budge. Trying to avoid the use of abrasive as I don’t want to score the aperture in the arm.
The TDS for Hysol gives instructions for removal. Not being a mechanic, I don't know where the epoxy is located. My first thought was to use a dremel. However, the TDS for Hysol states to heat it up to 220 celsius and remove with abrasives. https://www.gluespec.com/Materials/SpecSheet/26e4ea26-cfc4-44b7-a866-74407aa6eaf9
It comes out easy using a dremel and a soft scotchbrite wheel, i got a pack off e bay and very cheap. These will remove it and leave the alloy shining without removing anything. Drop me an e mail and i will find an e bay link Look up dremel abrasive wheel on e bay. 40 off for £8 my money Image Unavailable, Please Login
And out of interest, did you use hill ball joints? As far as I can see these have a ptfe lining, presumably you don’t lubricate them as that would be detrimental to the lining.
I did use the Hill parts, but mine is the 430-you can lubricate ptfe with anything as its inert. After i have them fitted in the arms and before i fit the circlip covers i sit them on the bench and spray with fully synthetic motor bike chain lub. This stuff goes on like wd40 but then dries to a wax. Do one side, leave to set and turn over and do other side. Fit covers. This stuff is so thin it gets into the joint and the ptfe ring. You can also lub them in situ using the thin plastic tube with the spray can, by getting it between the top of the ball joint and the rubber cover. Do you have a procedure on how to get the arms off as there are things to be careful with - i have one for a 430 which might be similar
Forgot to mention, use dremel at reduced speed until you see how good these abrasive pads are, too fast and they can fly apart
Yeah have the wsm, and have the upper arm off and old ball joint pressed out. Was just concerned that certain camps say don’t lubricate ptfe lined joints as the lubricant attracts dirt, which then affects the lining.
If the cover is in place the crap cannot get in. No point putting molycote graphite grease in, as it will not flow into where the nylon ring is. The oem ones fail as the chrome comes off and the slivers get to the nylon and wear it away. When you use the adhesive and it comes out of the oven, put a screwdriver in the ball joint and move it around in case any hysol gets on the curved surface. It can lock up so moving it will show any and you can remove while still hot
Its normal to see it all over the inside, trick is not to put too much on as you have to clean off the excess without it getting on the curved machined surface. Those dremel bits will give that a mirror finish
Abrasive wheels worked perfectly and got rid of the hysol, and produced a nice finish. Thanks Mike! Good tip! Arms have new joints installed just need to get the lowers put back on the car. The only slight niggle I’ve had is on the lower ball joint covers, the rubber between the two ends of the circlip doesn’t want to sit completely flat. Almost like there is too much material, the clips sat well in the recess though.
As long as the circlip is sat in the groove it will be fine- i put a thin film of jointing compound like RTV over the seal by the circlip to cover the holes. Its not seen and will help to keep water out
Yep.. hill rod end is going on. It’s the inbound ball joint which has the play, so am replacing with a super performance arm. Fingers crossed it will undo easily.
Are you able to remove those inner ball joints without removing the whole arm? Mine has play on the inside ball joint as well but have been putting it off long enough
The arm is a single piece. It’s febi and cost about 150gbp plus vat, so if anyone can work out febi part codes, might be able to save a little in future. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I did have a quick look based on the numbers stamped on the arm but couldn’t find a match. Typical febi/lemforder arms are about 20 - 50 gbp.
I meant removing that whole inner tie rod from the steering rack with the rack in situ or do you have to remove the entire steering rack from the car, put it on the bench and then remove the inner tie rod.
Looks fairly accessible with the rack in situ. I just need to pull the boot back, but might not even need a proper tie rod removal tool. Will take some pics.
@Mrjb Did you make any progress on replacing the inner tie rod? I am going to do that and was wondering if the entire steering rack needs to be removed to do that. thx
If an entire steering rack has to be removed in order to replace a tie rod that would really suck. I'm hoping this is not the case and somebody chimes in
also, in looking at OEM inner tie rods, there's no flat sections to put a tool on it, the end of the ball joint looks totally round so I'm not sure how people would remove it with the rack in place...pipe wrench?
