[Guest]

My Upper Ball Joint grease boots are shot, so I'll be replacing UBJ's soon. My questions: (A)has anyone been able to drill out the 4 rivets without removing Upper Control Arms off frame(CA bushings look good)?(B)will there be room for a regular 3/8's Reversible Drill or is a 90* Angle Drill required?

 

[Guest]

You can drill them attached to the car, once you pull the spindle the arm can drop much further. I was able to get a 16.8 volt Craftsman cordless in there, it was tight but it worked.

 

[Guest]

DJ, thanks.

 

[Guest]

You can also "break and re-sharpen" a drill so it's shorter thus giving you more room to fit the drill moter.
Just a thought.

 

[Guest]

Remove the upper arm bump stop and loosen the self-locking nuts on the cross-shaft to let the upper arm drop down as much as possible. Be sure to put everything back like you found it once you're done.

Otherwise, why not just remove the arm, since its already separated from the knuckle?

Out of curiosity, what ball joints are you planning to use?

 

[Guest]

FMJSS, drill bits are made from tool steel(very hard to break or cut), but they do come in different lengthes. I have short lengthes. Thanks for the thought though. Bill, bushings look good so I don't want extra effort of removing & reinstalling Arms. I've ordered the ACD 45D0016 UBJ's per your recommendation. Thanks. P.S. I was thinking(wrongly) of drilling rivets from the bottom, but saw illustration in my Haynes Manual(page 10-7) showing rivets being drilled from top(can't enlarge holes in Arm this way; if 1/2" bit is off center a little I'll only score BJ housing).