Ball Joint Replacement

[daewooluvr]

Hey all,
I found out that I need to replace both ball joints and an outer tie rod end to pass inspection.
I ordered the parts and was ready to go replace them.
Here's a pic of the ball joints:

Notice it comes in a plate and it appears that there are three bolts to replace each one.

Well I jacked up the car and looked at the ball joint that's on there now.
The factory ones look like they have some sort of steel rivots holding them on.

This kind of killed my plans for the day. What is the best method to remove them?

[daewoomofo]

i ground down the rivits with an angle grinder. what is nice is that after you have the bolt on ball joints on, you dont have to remove the ball joint from the strut if you need to reove the strut, just take tha ball joint off the control arm. thats what i did when i got my wheel bearings replaced.

[wolfsreign]

i ground down the rivits with an angle grinder. what is nice is that after you have the bolt on ball joints on, you dont have to remove the ball joint from the strut if you need to reove the strut, just take tha ball joint off the control arm. thats what i did when i got my wheel bearings replaced.

+1
basically. you could also drill a hole, but more time wasted, could break the bit, could be off centered.

just make sure no sparks go to unwanted places (fuel).
also torque the bolts/nuts correct amount.....

(thing i hate most is not being able to grease this things like an american car. gotta whole replace)
~wolf

[daewoomofo]

get good ones too. i had to wait a week for my moogs but they are top of the line

[daewooluvr]

get good ones too. i had to wait a week for my moogs but they are top of the line

Yep I got Moogs. Got a pretty good deal on them too, only $22 a piece.

I looked in my service manual is it says to remove the control arm and drill the rivots out.

[wolfsreign]

lol. if you really wanna go through the extra work of taking that chunk of metal out then sure.. just be as easy, supporting the piece and grinding them away.. just have water on the side and some more water so when ur done grinding, sprinkle some water on it to cool it down, b.c the rivots will expand in the hole... >.<
~wolf

[daewoomofo]

grinding is WAY easier. i tried drilling them until i used my head and ground them off.

[Daniel]

Can someone give me pitch, grade and dia of those fixing bolts? I think it's metric.

Thanks,

[wolfsreign]

well to tell you the truth its impossible to tell from a picture... need the site atleast with a contact to see. b.c they could be from different manufactures would could result in different grades....
~wolf