Drifting Left / Right Within Lane On Highway! Scary!

[BBuncky2]

So tonight while working on my lower ball joints, I found out the hard way that you have to remove the rotor and guard just to have room to put the c-clamp in there to press out the ball joint. This fucking sucks. OH! ...and of COURSE I didn't have the damn 12-point sockets you need to remove the bolts from the back of the hub! It's never easy with repairing a car, no matter what you do. Sorry, I'm just bitching because I didn't research enough beforehand (although even if I would have done the research, the Chilton's shows the bolts as 6-point!)

[starchland]

thats one way, the other way is to just disconnect the lbj and then grind a bit of the balljoint so it slips out...worked for me

[BBuncky2]

thats one way, the other way is to just disconnect the lbj and then grind a bit of the balljoint so it slips out...worked for me

Yes but you still have to press the new one in...

[starchland]

no, just grind a bit of the new one away. worked for me.

[BBuncky2]

Wouldn't grinding part of it away increase the chance of it coming out later? The reason it's pressed in is so that it doesn't move at all, right? Also, what part of it did you grind away?

[starchland]

its not pressed in really...and theres a c clip holding it in on the other side

[BBuncky2]

its not pressed in really...and theres a c clip holding it in on the other side

The OEM LBJ's aren't coming with snap rings anymore or even a groove for a snap ring on them. The two OEM ones that I just bought a few weeks ago from TASAuto doesn't have either. "Ceelooboob" in the below forum told me that they don't need them anymore, but they originally used them. Since then, they've stopped using them I guess?

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=119352

I thought it was kind of weird that there was no groove, but we DID have to press the LBJ into the knuckle with a ball joint press kit.

What do you think of this?

[starchland]

Interesting. So this now turns it into a job where a press is needed. I did mine a year or two ago and Got LBJ's (sounds dirty ) with the snap ring...so maybe some manufacterers havent switched over yet or old stock. The new style maybe makes it cheaper to make? I dunno...but even w/o the snapring...it still isnt coming out because the piece gets in the way.

[BBuncky2]

Interesting. So this now turns it into a job where a press is needed. I did mine a year or two ago and Got LBJ's (sounds dirty ) with the snap ring...so maybe some manufacterers havent switched over yet or old stock. The new style maybe makes it cheaper to make? I dunno...but even w/o the snapring...it still isnt coming out because the piece gets in the way.

Haha! I always feel dirty typing LBJ!

Yeah maybe it's cheaper, but which piece gets in the way? I'm still worried it might come out!

Also, you can use a ball joint press kit, but you (pretty much) have to remove the whole steering knuckle.

[starchland]

ive forgotten its a piece of the wheel bearing or something i dont exactly remember. but if the new ones are pressed in you dont have a problem

[BBuncky2]

Ok I put the car into Belle Tire for an alignment on Friday. Also, the brake calipers BARELY slid onto the disc when I put it all back together. I didn't know how to get them to release (drove it around and used brakes, came back and jacked up the car and turned the tire manually and they were really tight) so I told them to take care of that too for me.

[BBuncky2]

it still isnt coming out because the piece gets in the way.

Which piece gets in the way?

[starchland]

i forgot...but there is no clearance

[Otto]

Ah, the LBJ on the passenger side of my CB has the new OEM one with no c-clip. And I can see how its not needed.
Hmm...well you already got it done. But jusy FYI, the brake lines don't need to be disconnected, and I replaced a LBJ without removing the rotor or anything, but it was very close. I pulled the knuckle out of the car, turned it upside down, cut off the BJ stud, and them hammered it out with a regular hammer. I suppose there's a chance of deforming the knuckle, but I was only concerned with that if it I had needed to hit it really hard or use a sledge on it.

So any word on the result?

[BBuncky2]

Ah, the LBJ on the passenger side of my CB has the new OEM one with no c-clip. And I can see how its not needed.
Hmm...well you already got it done. But jusy FYI, the brake lines don't need to be disconnected, and I replaced a LBJ without removing the rotor or anything, but it was very close. I pulled the knuckle out of the car, turned it upside down, cut off the BJ stud, and them hammered it out with a regular hammer. I suppose there's a chance of deforming the knuckle, but I was only concerned with that if it I had needed to hit it really hard or use a sledge on it.

So any word on the result?

Well, I just got it aligned yesterday. As it has always done (and I'm assuming it WILL always do ) it still pulls to the left. (Basically, if I hold the steering wheel straight, the car goes left. I have to hold it slightly right to keep it straight. Even then, it drifts left and right slightly.)

I also still felt the same problem that I was experiencing before: almost like there was wind blowing against my car, causing me to drift side to side semi-quickly. I don't get it; everything is tight (I torqued everything down to specification MYSELF!)

At least now I know that all of my ball joints are new, and my driveshafts are new, and I'm aligned. *sigh* I mostly just want to stop the car from pulling to the left! I have no idea what could be the problem!

Oh, and on top of that, my tranny's throwin' a code which starts when I get to 50mph (I'm assuming its a solenoid not letting me shift properly). I haven't pulled the code yet, and I haven't fiddled with the solenoid wires yet to just see if it's loose.