Starting replacement of control arms and ball joints on 2005 XC90 2.5t this weekend

[volvooh]

Wandrdune- Did you completely remove the axle from the hub, or were you able to articulate the hub enough with the axle in the join the control arm to the ball joint?

[wanderdüne]

Wandrdune- Did you completely remove the axle from the hub, or were you able to articulate the hub enough with the axle in the join the control arm to the ball joint?

I did not remove the axle, just removed the screw and then re-threaded it a few turns. I lubed the splines to assure inboard and outboard movement. I just held down the arm with my knee using a "mechanic pry bar" against the sub frame. The action is more to lift the hub up, over and forward to get the ball joint into the arm while pressing the arm down. Left to it's own devices, the arm will sit at rest just to the side of the ball joint

[volvooh]

Just out of curiosity, should the ball joint nut be tightened to a specifc torque spec? I've read anywhere from 37 to over a hundred ft pounds. I did not use a torque wrench. I just used by 3/4 ratchet and tightened as hard as I was able by hand.

[ggleavitt]

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[oragex]

If you have a regular ratchet, slide an electric pipe (hardware store) over the handle. But it's good to know how much to torque because a 1ft or 2ft pipe will put a lot of torque will little effort. I use a 2ft breaker bar for them wheel lugs, and even without forcing too much, it puts way more than the spec 100ft-lb or so. The best I thing imho is a beam torque wrenches with the right range, cheap and no worries about getting off caliibration.