[caspiankid]

The passenger side spindle on my 65 FB was removed so that I could replace my UCA and LCA. I reattached the spindle to the ball joint studs and torqued the castle nuts to spec. I can't move (turn) the spindle at all. Do I need to use a puller and pop the ball joints loose and attempt to retourque the nuts? I followed the same procedure on the driver's side and it moved without too mush effort. Any Suggestions? TIA

 

[geegee]

Is the spindle jamming against the ball joint? It shouldn't. You might have a wrong or wrongly manufactured ball joint.

 

[camachinist]

Which ball joint is sticking...upper or lower?

Yes, if it's stuck, I'd pop it loose and investigate...gotta be something simple...

Don't those LCA's come with a ball joint already attached? Maybe it's wrong or screwed up...

 

[caspiankid]

Yes, the arms do come with the ball joints attached. I don't quite know which ball joint is stuck, just that the whole spindle refuses to rotate even when massive leg pushing force is judiciously applied.

 

[caspiankid]

I don't know if the spindle is jammed against the ball joint, just that it won't turn. I'm leaning against the wrong ball joint theory as it was attached to the arm and the other arm/joint combo was ordered at the same time and looked identical and it works fine.

 

[geegee]

New ball joints are tight but shouldn't be jammed. When I did mine a couple weekends back, I used a rubber mallet to tap the tapers into position so the spindle could be attached easily. It did not take much force to move the tapers. Somethings wrong so do a good visual and if that's not enough, take it apart and find out which arm is binding. You really don't have a choice but to take it apart and check each ball joint. It shouldn't go too hard since the tapers are new. Use small sledge on the side of the spindle opposite the taper. The ball joint should drop out after one or two light blows with no damage to the taper or nut.

 

[camachinist]

I wonder if one or both ball joints have the wrong taper (maybe too small) and they went too deep into the spindle..

How did the nuts look when tightening...?? Were the cotter holes well withing the castellation on the nut?

Darned peculiar...*G*