Changing Suspension Balljoints

[edit] Introduction

The Renault 5 has double-wishbone front suspension, with upper and lower balljoints. The balljoints (for those who don't know) allow the suspension to move up and down and the hubs holding the wheel bearings and brakes to turn.

Balljoints should be replaced if they have any play (up and down movement or side-to-side movement) in them. Jack the car up and wobble the wheel to check. Sometimes, play in the balljoints is evident as a clonk when taking up drive or braking. Balljoints should also be replaced if the rubber gaiter surrounding them becomes broken or damaged.

Renault secured the balljoints to the upper wishbone with three rivets. The bottom balljoints have two rivets and a threaded (captive) bolt.

New balljoints are fixed to the wishbones using new nuts and bolts, which are supplied as a kit with a new balljoint. The upper balljoints usually come with a large metal washer which goes over the top of the balljoint on top of the wishbone. I am not sure if the washer is 100% necessary, as some pattern-part balljoints come without it, but I assume it is safer to fit it if in doubt. The new nuts supplied will be Nyloc nuts, which should not be re-used after being removed.

Given this information, it's pretty easy to tell if the balljoints are original to the car or if they have been changed at some point. I would (tentatively) suggest that any car with original balljoints is in high need of them being replaced! That is, unless the car has done very little mileage and the rubber gaiter is undamaged.

[edit] Changing Suspension Balljoints

1. With the car still on the ground, undo the wheel nuts (a little) on the appropriate wheel to loosen them
2. Jack up the car and support it securely on axle stands
3. Remove the roadwheel
4. If you are changing the bottom balljoint, you should remove the driveshaft nut. It's really tight, so you'll need someone to sit in the car with their foot on the brake pedal. Use a long breaker bar and a 24mm socket. You might find that the nut simply won't undo. In that case, your options are limited - maybe heat might release it (but damage other components), or if you're changing the driveshaft anyway you could grind the nut off. You might get away without removing the nut if you withdraw the driveshaft a little from the gearbox (on Gordini models you'll have to drive out the roll-pin from the inboard end of the driveshaft first)
5. Unscrew the large nut on the balljoint you wish to change. You'll need a 17mm socket for the top balljoint and a 19mm socket for the bottom one. I find that a socket may not fit comfortably on the top balljoint, so end up having to use an open-ended spanner. You may also find that once you have undone the nut a bit, the balljoint begins to rotate in its housing and you can't undo the nut any further. If this happens, you may be able to do the nut back up again (tightly) in order to reseat the balljoint, and then try undoing the nut again. You may have to clamp the wishbone to the balljoint somehow to allow this. If all else fails, you can (carefully) grind the nut off the end, though I would suggest this is a last resort. The balljoint will be discarded, so don't worry about damaging it, but be careful of the hub carrier
6. "Split" the balljoint. You will need a proper balljoint splitter tool. Mine has a forken end that is inserted between the balljoint and hub-carrier, and has an arm which tightens up and exerts pressure on the threaded end of the balljoint mental note: post a picture of it here. I have had to modify its forked end slightly as I found it wouldn't fit the Renault 5 balljoints as the ends were too large. I ground them down slightly with my angle grinder. I sometimes find I have to align the splitter and then hit it with a hammer to get it fully in position
7. When spittling the balljoint, be careful. It may take some considerable force to free it. I find that exerting pressure, leaving it for a bit and then tightening it up even more helps. Sometimes the balljoint can split with a real "bang". If you ever have to split a balljoint from a hub carrier where the balljoint has already been removed from its mounting in the wishbone, don't stand in the "firing line"! I have had one release and be fired across the garage! Fortunately it just bounced off the wall...
8. If the balljoint is original, you will need to remove the rivets. The Haynes manual suggests drilling them out. However, I have never managed to do this successfully and have always resorted to grinding the heads off the rivets and removing the balljoint that way. With the bottom balljoint, be extremely careful not to damage the third, threaded rod towards the middle of the car. It is essential that this is in good condition so you can mount the new balljoint onto it. I would recommend that if you are changing a bottom balljoint, you liberally soak the threads of this rod with penetrating oil (such as WD40), and then wait quite a bit for the penetrating oil to do its trick before attempting to undo the nut on it!
9. I find that I cannot successfully get a drill onto the heads of the rivets, so usually grind off the bottom heads of the rivets. Inevitably, I damage the balljoint, but since it's being replaced, I don't care! You can even afford to grind quite a bit into the balljoint, in order to make sure you've really ground the heads off the rivets. I've sometimes found it difficult to extract the rivets (particularly from the upper wishbone) once their heads have been ground off. In that case, a hole towards the outside of the centre of the rivet can be drilled (from underneath). You should then be able to use a punch or drift and a hammer to push the rivets out
10. If changing a lower balljoint, undo the nut on the threaded rod. Again, be very careful - you can't afford to strip the threads on this, snap the stud off, or anything like that! It's only an M6 thread (10mm socket), so can't take that much torque. I often find that undoing the nut a little, doing it back up and spraying it with WD40, before undoing it more really helps. Above all, take your time!
11. Obviously, if the balljoint is simply bolted in place all-round, remove the nuts and bolts holding it in place
12. You should now be able to remove the balljoint from the car!
13. Refit the new balljoint to the car. If it's a top balljoint, fit the large washer supplied with it over the top of where the balljoint will be on top of the wishbone (if supplied in your kit). The holes in the washer are not equally spaced, so make sure they align properly with the holes in the wishbone
14. Tighten the nuts and bolts holding the balljoint in place (10mm socket and spanner)
15. Push the end of the balljoint through the hole in the hub carrier and put the new Nyloc nut on the end
16. Tighten the Nyloc nut to the specified torque Note: check this torque out. Again, you may find that the balljoint rotates in its housing rather than the nut doing up. In this case, you can clamp the hub carrier to the wishbone, or put pressure on it some other way to force the two together. This should then hold the balljoint steady so you can tighten the nut
17. If you removed the driveshaft nut, replace it here. Ideally, use a new one
18. Refit the roadwheel and loosely tighten the wheelnuts. You may find it helpful to smear the face of the hub with copper grease (not too much) and also to put some on the threads of the wheelnut studs. The former will make it easier to remove the wheels in the future (particularly if you've got alloy wheels) and the latter keeps the wheelnuts easy to undo
19. Lower the car to the floor and torque the wheelnuts (what torque?)
20. Test-drive! You may wish to get the tracking of the car checked, but hopefully what you've done won't have affected it too much