XC70: General 2013 XC70 Lower Ball Joint - Help

[al dm]

OK, so I am in the process of replacing the front wheel bearings on my 2103 D5 AWD XC70.

I have watched several YouTube videos and it all started off just fine.

I removed the wheel, brake caliper, disk, brake shield and the hub nut with no issue.

I removed the tie rod ball joint with no issues.

But I cannot for the life of me seem to remove the lower control arm ball joint from the steering knuckle. And I need to get that apart so I can remove the driveshaft and replace the wheel bearing.

The videos I watched show a ball joint with a nut on top. Mine doesn't look like that. It has a bolt that goes through the knuckle and the ball joint would appear to have a cut out in it that the bolt goes against to secure it in place.

Anyway, I removed the bolt, but the ball joint does not want to come out. I have managed to move it a bit (about 5mm) but now it doesn't want to move any further. Because of the way it is put together, it is impossible to use a regular ball joint separator. I have tried with a fork type separator and got some movement, but have managed to damage the ball joint boot in the process and still haven't got the ball joint all the way out yet.

So....does anyone have any tips for getting this bugger out? The part of the knuckle that slides over the ball joint has a slot in it, which I could hammer something into to try and separate it a bit so it doesn't grip the ball joint arm so tightly - but it's a right pig to get to because the driveshaft is in the way....

Anyway, once I have it out I will need to either....replace the ball joint completely (grind off the rivets and fit a new one with bolts) or just replace the rubber boot.

VIDA doesn't list either the ball joint or the boot as separate items. Volvo just want to sell a complete new control arm with integrated ball joint, which I don't want to do. So does anybody have part numbers for the just boot or for the ball joint? (I have found Lemforder ball joints at EuroCarParts, but am looking for other options).

This was always going to be a bit of a pig of a job, but now it's a whole pig. I'm going to leave it overnight and then come back to it in the morning with a clear head.

All input welcome. Bloody ball joints!

This is the Lemforder ball joint that will fit. Doesn't seem to come with nuts and bolts though... https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/lemfo...oint-617660365

[37 RUBY]

Hello

If you look on the repair section of Vida it shows a specific pry bar used to break the interference fit of the ball joint which Volvo does not supply separately.
With a bit of ingenuity it should be easy to replicate or you can buy a generic onehttps://www.onbuy.com/gb/p/12m-wishb...xoC04UQAvD_BwE

I would also utilise a tiny bit of heat on the hub carrier but follow up on the ball joint knuckle pin with plumbers freeze spray, in an attempt to get it to rapidly reduce in size.

You can get universal ball joint rubbers...I've never had much luck with them.
Here is a link to several ball joints, https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-...ljoint#contentall with bolts. At least if you have a new ball joint ready you can use more force to remove the old one.

HTH

Cheers

Dave

[al dm]

Originally Posted by 37 RUBY

Hello

If you look on the repair section of Vida it shows a specific pry bar used to break the interference fit of the ball joint which Volvo does not supply separately.
With a bit of ingenuity it should be easy to replicate or you can buy a generic onehttps://www.onbuy.com/gb/p/12m-wishb...xoC04UQAvD_BwE

I would also utilise a tiny bit of heat on the hub carrier but follow up on the ball joint knuckle pin with plumbers freeze spray, in an attempt to get it to rapidly reduce in size.

You can get universal ball joint rubbers...I've never had much luck with them.
Here is a link to several ball joints, https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-...ljoint#contentall with bolts. At least if you have a new ball joint ready you can use more force to remove the old one.

HTH

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Dave,

I did see the special Volvo tool on VIDA but couldn't find anywhere to buy it from. But I did follow your link, which in turn led me to a £12 Laser Products hook type thingy that should hopefully let me use my own breaker car to pull the thing downwards.

I'll use some heat on the knuckle in the morning and have another go at it. I don't have any plumber's freeze spray, but can go and get some on my motorbike tomorrow.

I have also ordered two new bolt on ball joints, so at least I will be able to replace them once I get the damn things off!

[37 RUBY]

Originally Posted by al dm

Thanks Dave,

I did see the special Volvo tool on VIDA but couldn't find anywhere to buy it from. But I did follow your link, which in turn led me to a £12 Laser Products hook type thingy that should hopefully let me use my own breaker car to pull the thing downwards.

I'll use some heat on the knuckle in the morning and have another go at it. I don't have any plumber's freeze spray, but can go and get some on my motorbike tomorrow.

I have also ordered two new bolt on ball joints, so at least I will be able to replace them once I get the damn things off!

Parallel interference fit pins can be a pain.

I've used freeze spray since an agricultural engineer recommended it. I managed to get the head studs out of a 1937 Austin Ruby by employing heat and cold...didn't shear one stud.

Hopefully your pry bar will do the trick.

Have you supported the hub/strut so the downward force doesn't damage the strut top bearing?

[al dm]

Originally Posted by 37 RUBY

Parallel interference fit pins can be a pain.

I've used freeze spray since an agricultural engineer recommended it. I managed to get the head studs out of a 1937 Austin Ruby by employing heat and cold...didn't shear one stud.

Hopefully your pry bar will do the trick.

Have you supported the hub/strut so the downward force doesn't damage the strut top bearing?

Very good tip there. Thank you. And no, up to this point I have not supported the strut. I'll rig something up tomorrow and also check that I haven't buggered the top bearing up....

[37 RUBY]

Hello

Any joy today....?

[al dm]

Originally Posted by 37 RUBY

Hello

Any joy today....?

Yes indeed. I didn't get started this morning as it was raining outside and I was lazy. I waited for my hook thing to arrive from Amazon, and then got to work a couple of hours ago.

First of all, the fact that I have new ball joints on the way and am committed to fitting them put me in a different frame of mind and I didn't worry about damaging the old ones any more.

So a good whack or two with a club hammer on the fork type ball joint separator and some leverage using my prybar and hook got the first ball joint out (still a bit of a fight, but it did come out) and the knuckle free so I could remove the drive shaft easily.

Next up was to try the cheap eBay wheel bearing tool. I must admit I was a little sceptical as I got it assembled and torqued up, thinking the force pins might bend or break, but as I torqued it tighter and tighter, suddenly I got that "pop" sound that I was waiting for and the bearing/hub started coming out. It took a while and a bit of effort to wind it out completely, but I got there.

I cleaned up and then greased up the steering knuckle where the new bearing/hub will fit to protect it from the elements as it has started raining again.

So, I am happy now. I know how to do it - and the secret seems to be to commit to changing the ball joints as well when you do this job because it's almost impossible to do it without damaging them. My replacement ball joints should be arriving tomorrow or Thursday, so I will now need to figure out how best to get the old ones out. I am debating cutting the original rivets off with a cold chisel or Dremel tool, or just drilling them out. I'll have to see if the drill can get in there easily tomorrow.

The good news is that once I had the old bearing/hub out I could easily feel that it was "graunchy" compared to the new ones I have. So hopefully this is indeed the source of the noise that has been driving me crazy. Once I get this side done, even if it does 100% solve the problem, I will still change out the other side as I have the parts and the tools and it must be good practice to do both sides.

The only thing that remains to be seen is if the tool will be able to push the new bearings in correctly. I think this will be harder to achieve than getting the old ones out, but we will see tomorrow. I have a pair of new wheel bearings in the freezer, so they will be shrunk down as much as possible for tomorrow anyway.....

EDITED TO ADD: I should also really source a couple of the Volvo shield/clips that go over the slot in the knuckle to protect the ball joint arm. I'll call my local Volvo dealership in the morning and see if they have any....

[37 RUBY]

Good work.

I think for ease, access and to lessen the chance of damage you may as well remove the bottom arms to drill out the rivets. You'll need to get the tracking done anyway.

[al dm]

Originally Posted by 37 RUBY

Good work.

I think for ease, access and to lessen the chance of damage you may as well remove the bottom arms to drill out the rivets. You'll need to get the tracking done anyway.

That is probably a good idea. I have good tools and they will probably come off easily with the application of my Makita LXT impact gun.

I'll see tomorrow. Might just have a go at drilling them out in situ first.

I have a friend who has a tyre shop, so I'll get tracking and alignment all done once I am finished up. I might even get a pair of new tyres as well....

[xavierx]

The lower control arm needs a huge amount of downward force to remove the balljoint. If you don't have the special long pry tool, you need a really heavy friend to stand on the lower control arm while you pull the balljoint free.

Thankfully I have been able to borrow the same friend every time I have had to do this 🤣

When doing the ball joint, I first tried cutting off the rivet heads, but they would not punch out with any amount of force, almost like they had welded themselves into the holes. I ended up removing the entire lower control arm and drilling what was left of them out on the drill press