Ball Joint Inspection On Lca

[lexus082]

On one of my ball joints the threaded bolt that is part of the ball joint rotates freely is this normal? Thanks

[lenore]

No I don't believe so. Check the other side and confirm.

[SKperformance]

A ball joint is just that a big ball socket with a base to hold it in place and a stud protruding from it.

If it moves easily with a socket then it definatly has too much play and needs to be replaced. Usually there are nuts on the base as well to hold the stud steady while undoing the castle nut.

[jzz30]

there are actual torque specs to how freely the ball joint can turn but well thats kind of hard to measure, what i feel is more important is getting channel locks and trying to push down on the stud part to see if the ball joint actually moves, if it does then the arm has to be replaced because that is where the noise would be coming from.

[lexus082]

there are actual torque specs to how freely the ball joint can turn but well thats kind of hard to measure, what i feel is more important is getting channel locks and trying to push down on the stud part to see if the ball joint actually moves, if it does then the arm has to be replaced because that is where the noise would be coming from.

The "used" control arm I bought as a temporary fix is supposed to have low mileage. It appears the bushings are still in good shape. I looked in the Lexus service manual and it stated how to check the "ball joint rotation" And this says the ball joint can rotate but should be within specs. I haven't measured yet, but I can turn the stud with my fingers and my question is even if I tighten down the castle nut once it starts getting tight that ball joint stud is just going to turn freely right? And that castle nut isn't going to get any tighter, b/c the whole thing is going to turn.

Doesn't make sense to me... the manual states that the ball joint can rotate between like 1-3 Nm when taking a reading. But you can't tighten a nut down to a stud thats going to rotate the same direction. And even if I get the nut torqued down enough what about removal when I replace with all new parts how am I going to get the nut off the remove the arm if the stud is turning in the same direction.

I even took the lca to a toyota dealer and showed it to a mechanic and they said the ball joint looked fine w/o it being on the car to inspect. I pointed out how easy it was to turn the stud. Any thoughts come to mind??

[over40driver]

Once the stud goes up into the steering knuckle it should be held from turning and torque down.

[jzz30]

yea the ball joints are taper fit so if you shove it in to the knuckle hard enough it will not rotate while tightening.