Quick ball joint question

[rainagain]

I finished changing the lower ball joint in the OH's Tucson last night, the ball joint looks like the attached pic.

 

With two bolts into the hub and a nut onto the threaded part that fits into the tapered hole in the lower wishbone. I torqued up the two hub bolts no problem but the lower nut that screws onto the threaded part on the tapered section seemed to get be getting tighter then it stopped getting any tighter  It was tight but not to the correct torque (80Nm), I decided to stop tightening it incase I stripped the nut as it felt like that weird way a nut feels before it strips. I was speaking to someone at work this morning who used to be a mechanic and he recommended I just tightened it until it either reached the correct torque or the nut was stripped.

 

It felt pretty tight to me and given the effort I had getting the old one out, I'm assuming once this corrodes in it won't be going anywhere, but I just wondering what the AS view is on this. (I have already tried hammering on a smaller socket  ) 

[alf892]

I'd take the bolt out and have a look..........sounds like it is stripped.

 

Just do them up tight to feel......torque wrench on such bolts is waste of time

[steve_earwig]

I suppose the big question is: is the thread stripping or the ball pin turning? If the thread's stripping then it's not fit fir purpose, if the ball pin is turning you could try putting a jack under the arm and giving it a bit more weight.

[rainagain]

I suppose the big question is: is the thread stripping or the ball pin turning? If the thread's stripping then it's not fit fir purpose, if the ball pin is turning you could try putting a jack under the arm and giving it a bit more weight.

Its not turning as I marked the threaded bit with paint to check. I've got a funny feeling it's just cheap eurocarparts crap.

[alf892]

Sorry I assumed bolt cos I don't read properly......Steve has it nailed! It you are lucky it will be the nut

[steve_earwig]

Then it's not fit for purpose, if the torque's not going any higher then the thread is already stripping and not something you want to let your wife drive with.

[rainagain]

Bugger I will stick it in for its MOT today just to get the ticket afterwards I will try and tighten it to the proper torque, if it strips I will get a better quality ball joint. Annoyingly enough I didn't want to buy the cheapest ball joint they had listed but it was the only one in stock locally and I needed it ASAP.

[beko1987]

One of my bottom ball joint bolts is slightly stripped, luckily there's 5 or 6 threads after that that it grips onto to tighten fully so I'm leaving it alone. If I ever need to change the bottom joint again I'll have to buy another bolt though

[michael1703]

I had a Tucson in for an mot the other day, the owner said the steering was terrible but I couldn't find anything wrong

 

What's the steering like on yours?

[mat_the_cat]

Nuts of the same strength class are designed to strip before the male part, so if stripping has occurred then it should be the nut - assuming design came into it...

 

If the BJ thread has stripped then you could just use a nut with a spacer underneath, but I'd seriously question the strength of the part!

[rainagain]

I had a Tucson in for an mot the other day, the owner said the steering was terrible but I couldn't find anything wrong

 

What's the steering like on yours?

 

Right now not great as I need to do the tracking after fitting a new track rod end for the MOT (I did count the threads but I think it's toe'd out as it feels a bit wooly when going straight ahead), but normally it's quite good. It weighs up nicely going round corners.

[rainagain]

oh and now got 12 months ticket, happy days!