dubweiser 0 Posted October 4, 2004 Hi i have a 2litre 16v corrado and after reading a lot of topics in here i have come to the conclusion that my ball joints are shagged.My steering is wheel is pointing off centre and if i go over a bump or on a road with a camber in it the wheel is trying to be dragged out of my hands.Just wanted to know if it is a hard job to do myself and is there any tips anyone can give before i start.Is there any torque settings etc that i need.Cheers for the help and i hope i can get it sorted as i am going to end up with one arm the size of mr.scwarzennegers trying to wrestle with my car every time i go out.!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolrado 0 Posted October 4, 2004 might be worth getting your tracking/camber checked first the bottom ball joints are cheap and easy to do as well (makes a change) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woody 0 Posted October 4, 2004 I had mine changed at the front took 2 hours costing £35 an hour. It made such a difference Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolrado 0 Posted October 4, 2004 jack the front up and put it on axle stands whip the wheels off undo the ball joint clamp bolt (behind the brake disk guard) and remove the bolt completely then either use a ball joint splitter or the dodgy method find a flat ended screwdriver/pry bar and slightly lever the gap open that clamps the ball joint tapered stud, while keeping downward pressure on the lower suspension arm, which should eventually pop out. then simply undo the three bolts that hold the ball joint in place and slide it out installation is the reverse of removal but im not sure on the torque specs at the moment it might be worth getting your camber/tracking done after you have changed them as there is some adjustment in the ball joint mounts but from what you are describing it sounds like its your camber and or tracking thats the problem as worn ball joints just seem to cause an "odd" felling in the steering sort of vaugue and clunky when hitting bumps ive just changed both bottom arms with bushes both ball joints brake disks and an outer cv boot which only took a few hours but it felt horrible to drive afterwards like it was on the edge of loosing grip all the time and very twitchy at speed, took it to demon tweeks the next day and the camber was perfect but the tracking was a mile out and once they had sorted it, it drives better than it ever has :D hope that helps Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 1 Posted October 4, 2004 Ergh.. I think my ball joints could be on their way out by some of the things mentioned on here.. not heavily but, starting to go... Need to ask Vince to check the motor over properly when he does the CV joint on Thursday! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Blassberg 0 Posted October 4, 2004 Maybe top mounts. New ones made a huge difference to the feel of my VR6. Best wishes RB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 4, 2004 Vince has discovered that worn ball joints seem fine when the steering is set to the dead-ahead position, but at 30 degrees, there is slack in them. This explained the weirdness in my steering many moons ago but nobody could find a fault with them prior to going to stealth. There are so many components at the front that can cause strange handling traits, so it's best to start with the cheaper items first, and take it from someone that has an entirely new chassis front and back, the steering is never perfect anyway, just a 'Corrado' thing. Sure it's better than worn out components but even with a new genuine rack, there is *still* a small amount of dead-ahead vaguenes... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gman 0 Posted October 4, 2004 I have started to write a how to for the ball joints. Must just finnish it and then will post it up for all too see :) G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RadoAds 0 Posted October 4, 2004 Sounds more like tracking to me, unless the ball joints are PROPER shagged Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubweiser 0 Posted October 6, 2004 Thanks guys im gonna get my tracking/camber checked first to see if this sorts the problem :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevemac 0 Posted October 6, 2004 dubweiser, If you're car is still on the original ball joints - they will be totally knackered. As has already been mentioned, they'll seem okay when you check them. Once they're removed you'll see exactly how worn they are. They can be VERY difficult to remove from the front hub assy. I did 2 cars (Mine & a friends) recently, originally just changing them because we were having new wheel bearings fitted & thought we may as well fit new ball joints while the hubs were off. All 4 were completely rusted solid onto the hub carriers & required a fair amount of "persuasion" with a large'ish hammer to get them out. While you're at it - replace the lower wishbones too - the bushes are likely to be worn out :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
