1981 GH Sigma ball joints and tie rods

[Smokysigma]

Hello all,

I have been driving a 1981 GH for 10 years but it was only 2 days ago that I found out about this forum. I didnt know that Sigmas were this popular. Anyway, this is my first post and after searching and reading the forum for the most part of today, I havent found an answer to my problem. Forgive me if this ends up as a repost.

My front ball joints and outer tie rods (closest to the wheels) are absolutely shot. With my trusty Gregory's, Ive managed to pull the control arm and tie rod out of the vehicle without too much trouble. However, I have found that I cant separate the steering arm from the ball joint nor the tie rod from the control arm. Accorging to the Gregory's, you just bash them with a hammer and they're supposed to come loose. This didnt work and upon closer inspection, the tie rod balljoint stud appears to be cast to the ball in the socket as well as to the control arm. Surely this cant be possible. How do you separate these??

All feedback is welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Nick.

[astronturbo77]

if you've got the control arm separate from the vehicle put the steeing arm on the anvil at the back of a bench vice and give the arm a bloody good hit with a decent hammer right on the side where the balljoint passes through the arm, they will separate, just need a good shock. failing that you can buy a mechanical ball joint seperator tool from most auto stores, there is one with a thread and rocker arm and also a fork type that you hammer between the joint. goodluck

[75glnt]

Yea you really gotta bash em mate

I bought a ball joint remover from supercheap.. $35. It works for tie rods, but our ball joints are too large...

To remove the ball joint, just unbolt the nut from the top of the ball joint.. Make sure the control arm is raised off the floor so the ball joint isn't touching the floor (I used a wooden chock), and just bash the fark out of the top of the ball joint! She'll pop right out

I've done all this last week

Note: when installing new ball joints. Take it to a professional! They're pressed in

[LukeAussie]

Ha ha, yep this is a fun job! As pointed out, sometimes the "ball joint removers" don't actually fit to the job you need... bashing is a good idea to get them out, but do make some kind of jig that supports the control arm and lets the joint go free. In the past, we've used a 20mm piece of flat steel with a big hole cut in the middle, and this works well.

Also, as 75 says, the new ones need to be pressed in, so you'll need to make up some kind of jig to use with a hydraulic jack (this works quite well if you set up your jig properly!), or if you're lucky to have one, a press.

Good luck! And welcome to the forum!

[Smokysigma]

Thanks heaps for the info guys! OK, im going to try and go to town on them with a hammer. I will try not to damage the steering and control arms in the process as these seem hard to come by if replacements become necessary.

Yeah, I'll take the new ball joint and control arm to a shop to fit for me. Has anyone ever tried a large G-clamp to "press" ball joints in using spark plug removing sockets to "cup" the ball joint?

The new tie rod ends Ive bought from Repco dont have the hole in the thread for the split pin to go through. The guy insisted they are the right ones. Is this how the aftermarket ones come these days, with no castellated nut and split pin? The new tie rods and ball joints also have no movement in them at all, is that normal??

Many thanks,

Nick

[geezer101]

Yeah, I'll take the new ball joint and control arm to a shop to fit for me. Has anyone ever tried a large G-clamp to "press" ball joints in using spark plug removing sockets to "cup" the ball joint?

That 'might' work - but it will more than likely damage the back of the ball joint in the process. And they take a fair amount of loading to press into the control arm.

The new tie rod ends Ive bought from Repco dont have the hole in the thread for the split pin to go through. The guy insisted they are the right ones. Is this how the aftermarket ones come these days, with no castellated nut and split pin?

They use a big nylock nut now on most of them. And yes, the joints are meant to be super firm - its when they're clapped out they move all over the place with little effort.

[Smokysigma]

Hey all,

The saga is finally over. Replacing both ball joints and the 2 outer tie rods was a success! Thanks guys for the love and support. I didnt think it would have been so hard to find a mechanic that would press the new ball joints into the control arm for me. Noone wanted to touch it. I found a guy at an UltraTune that pressed out the old ones and put the new ones in for $40.

Just a heads up to anyone trying this in future. I had to jack up the strut in order to get the new tie rod end back into the steering arm. They dont mention this in the Gregorys or maybe they assume that spring clamps (which I dont have) are just common sense.

The car is driving fine now and doesnt seem in desperate need of an alignment so I have some time to scrape the $$$ together to get that done.

Thanks again,

Nick

[geezer101]

Awesome. Amazing how much of a difference there is between a car with fresh joints and the same car with tired ones.