Rep Power: 0

Yo,


I'm in the process of replacing the LCA's on my 02' civic ex. The driver's side went smoothly, but now I am stuck with the passenger side wondering why the ball-joint on the hub is so far from where it should be in the LCA. I tried jacking the hub up by the strut assembly and it just pulls the ball-joint back further from the arm. I'm kind of lost. I can't see what can be done to fix it, it seems like hub is too far from the LCA to even be possible(especially after the driver's side was so easy).

I read this fellow member's post (https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...hen-bolts.html) and I can't replicate the results the tech's had when trying their methods.

Extra info:
When I was taking it(passenger side LCA) apart, it was a ROYAL BITCH separating the ball-joint from the old control arms... I mean bent pickle fork bitch(I would have done the ratchet method, but already had the other two fasteners off). Is there a possibility I bent the **** out of something and now I'm stuck fixing that, or am I just missing some wisdom?


Any help will be appreciated!

 
Rep Power: 518

Makes me think you may have pulled the inner CV joint apart. Puled the tripod out of the cup, now it's stuck and can't go back in.

 
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I was thinking this myself. I noticed the CV boot looked different than the other side (like it had been pulled out). What's the process of putting it back in? I've taken the spindle/hub apart before, but never actually done anything to the CV joints....

Also, If it is popped out and I put my car in gear, the hub shouldn't spin right?

 
Rep Power: 518

If you can't manipulate the pieces back together by squeezing the boot around, then you may need to disassemble the joint so you can see what's going on in it.


Check the band (clamp) first, see if you can take it apart and reinstall it without damage, or if you will need a new band to reassemble it.
I have been able to source just the band in the past, but see what's available at your parts store. They may want to sell you a boot kit. You can buy a complete axle for cheap instead too, but quality may not be all that.

Remove the axle.
Carefully remove the large band from the boot and peel the boot away from the cup.
Remove cup, inspect the tripod and the rollers that are supposed to be on each post. I doubt anything is damaged unless you really beat the snot out of it trying. Put it back together.

Reassemble all.

Next time, remember that there is nothing to keep the joint from sliding apart on most of these inner joints.


Other manufacturers may use joints with a snap ring in the cup to keep the joint from sliding all the way out, but most of Hondas OE inner joints do not.

Depends. But it should be fairly obvious something isn't right.

Wait, how'd you get that far if you can't get the arm and ball joint back together?


HTH

 
Rep Power: 367

fast way to make a roadkill or become one inside your garage... keep pets away.

 
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I like to live dangerously The front wheels are still in the air. I'll take a picture of the boot that looks weird.


The said pic



and the ball joint/LCA


money shot

 
Rep Power: 367

Yep, definitely your Christmas came apart. Either do what ezine said, or take out to assemble it back, or get axles (what I did when I had a dead cv joint)

 
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I've never replaced an axle but I have taken the hub off(removing spindle). If I were to replace it I would need to removing the spindle... How can I do that if I can't put the weight of the car on the wheels to break the nut(and no access to air-tools)?



Also, thanks for all the help! I think i'm gonna have a fun day tomorrow...

 
Rep Power: 367

You don't need remove knuckle (spindle). But you might need place Jack under to remove nut.
Hopefully will work, never tried myself. Or try to blindly reassemble joint inside boot

 
Rep Power: 518

Stick a screwdriver into a slot in the rotor, let it turn up against the caliper. That should keep it held still so you can get the big nut loose.

You may need to keep the knuckle from moving fore-aft though if the ball joint isn't in its hole.

 
Rep Power: 0

Update:

I took the axle off no problem. I removed the inner boot and everything looked fine. Unfortunately I don't have the proper tool to put the clamp back on. So now I can either go out and buy the tool/new boot kit or just buy a new axle.

Is it possible the issue was with the outer boot? I didn't really notice anything with the inner axle that would have caused the balljoint to be that far away from the LCA.... Although the balljoint will go into the LCA without the axle now....


Since I've got no way to get to the parts store until later tonight, I guess I'll be replacing the ball joint and wheel bearing while I'm waiting.


double update:

New ball-joint is in, but the bearing will have to wait until i can get an impact driver for those damn rotor screws. I'm going to fork over even more dough to just buy a new axle, any recommendations? I personally like Napa but I think I'll be going to autozone instead to save a few bucks.

 
Rep Power: 518

What type of clamp?

If it looks like this


you can sorta open up the pinched bump and reinstall, then squeeze it again with side cutter or end cutter.


Shouldn't be, because you can't pull that CV joint apart without a lot of brute force.

So it's something with the axle, just a question of where did it "grow longer" at.
The splined stub that sticks through the hub/knuckle, was it not fully seated?
That's the only other thing I can think of that would cause your issue, besides the inner joint coming apart.


Drive them around with a center punch and hammer?
I do that after I break off the impact driver tip in a screw, it happens to me about once a month LOL.

Not really when it comes to aftermarket and remans. They can all be a crapshoot.

 
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It was seated in the hub. The clamp does look like that, but I was having a hell of a time trying to get it tight enough. I text a mobile mech to come out tomorrow, but now i'm having second thoughts. I could put in a new axle for the same price he's charging to put a new clamp on and re-install everything. At the same time I don't really want buy a new axle, install it, and then find out I messed something else up

 
Rep Power: 518

LOL....It's up to you. I figured you can get axles for like $50 or so from the Zoo.

Just looked, their site has $53 as the cheapest at my local stores.



If there is enough room: You might wrap an ordinary hose clamp (large, or 2 regulars doubled up) around the joint and run with it like that, shove it all back together and see if it fits and works now.

 
Rep Power: 367

well, that's the reason i installed a new axle and I still have the old ones in the shelf if i decide to rebuild them later.

 
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Just got home from AZ with a reman axle. Hopefully all goes well. Updates to come!

 
Rep Power: 367

Glad to hear it's running

 
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YAAAAAAY! My baby is on all fours again!


When i compared the new axle to the old, it was quite a bit shorter, so I thought the parts place must have screwed me over. I decided to give it a go regardless and everything was easy as pie. It honestly only took me thirty minutes to put everything back together. The most difficult part was pushing the car out of the garage to jump it (i left the keys in the ignition, doh!)

Thanks for all your help guys, mad rep heading your way!


Oh and the new LCA's make the car feel much solid around turns, definitely worth the effort!

 
Rep Power: 518

LOL


The inboard joint on the old axle probably isn't fully bottomed out. No biggie, glad it worked out for you.

 
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That was me when it was all back together!

 
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I have the same problem!
I'm wondering if there is a way to get the inner cv joint back together without taking the boot off?

I saw the earlier reply from ezone, but maybe someone has something more specific?

I found this picture which makes the thing look pretty simple...
I should be able to push it back in right?

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1954131

Thanks for the help.

 
Rep Power: 518

Only if you are real lucky, and if you can manipulate all the pieces back where they came from.

Sometimes it works out, the rest of the time it has to be taken apart to reassemble it.

Some parts stores will sell just the boot clamps by themselves.


Good luck

 
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Thanks for the reply ezone.
Is this an accurate picture of what is in there?
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1954131

 
Rep Power: 518

Maybe.

Take yours apart and find out.

 
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well that's helpful.

anyway. I opened it up in the parking lot at work and everything went into place just fine. All I had to do was open the big side of the boot and things just fell back into place (it did look like the picture by the way).

 
Rep Power: 518

Oh come on, seriously? What did you really expect from me?




I'm not the one with your car in front of them.


Great!