Very nice writeup. I've done it the way you've described but found dealing with the ball joints to be a bigger pain than necessary. For me at least, it's faster to just remove the upper control arm from the shock tower. Just a tip for others as an addendum to your post.

 

WHat are the consequences of not lubing the splines? I didn't do that last summer as the one that I took out looked like it was not greased. I'm wondering whether I should pull them out and regrease them...

 

I always lube mine because it is possible for rust to build up on the mating surfaces of the hub and axle making it very difficult to separate them later on.

 

^^^what he said^^^ :thumbup:

 

Just curious, but what are the torque specs for all the bolts?

 

Well... I don't have them in front of me, but I've never used a torque wrench on any part of any axle job I've ever done. No professional mechanic will either. They make money on finishing the job, not doing it "right". I'll look it up and post them here, but all I've ever done is use an impact wrench to honk 'em down until they're tight, and I've never had any trouble.

The castle nuts on the LBJ's have a cotter pin, so there's not much risk of it coming off if you replace the cotter pin after re-assembly. It's good to get that one as tight as you can, but keep in mind you have to line the hole in the stud up with the castle nut cut-outs.

The axle nut: gets dimpled after you get it tight, so it's kind of like the cotter pin thing. My impact wrench can produce 1000'lbs of torque, but I don't use it all. If you honk the axle nut down too tight, it can make the wheel bearings drag and make the wheel hard to turn. It must spin freely. I sort of go by feel, and that's been just as accurate to me as using a torque wrench on it.

Lug nuts: 80'lbs.

 

Alright man, thanks alot. Im about to do an axle swap here in a bit.

 

HELP, I can't get the balljoint loose from the lower control arm!

 

Do like the guy said and keep tapping it with a hammer...be careful not to damage the boot though. If you are worried about hitting it to hard and doing damage you can always go borrow a ball joint seperator from autozone.

 

I live in Canada, no autozone. And am I just supposed to tap the sides? Or give it shit?