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Celsior (LS400)  strut Balljoints

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March 2006
by Peter Scott

frontshocks.jpg
frontshocks.jpg		 My Celsior was making clunking sounds from the front end and the steering wheel would shake over bad surfaces. So I took the car to Pedders for one of those $15 suspension checks.

The Pedders guy thought the car drove well and was surprised when the front shocks failed the drive-on shock absorber test.

Looking at the graph - about half way through the test the amplitude gets very large - this indicates a bad shock. So I'm up for a pair of front shocks.
rearshocks.jpg
rearshocks.jpg		 The rear shocks came up fine.

 

The balljoints had 2-3mm of movement and were stuffed - a very common problem on the Celsior. This doesn't happen on the Soarer (well only rarely).

 

 

 
ball1.jpg
ball1.jpg		 Old fashioned "balljoint spreaders" damage rubber boots - they are look like a thick fork  wedge and are hammered in to remove the balljoint - this is fine if the balljoint is being replaced. I prefer this type of balljoint pusher that doesn't harm the rubber boot - the boot can be gently pushed down and out of the way and no force is applied to the rubber boot. This way I can remove the balljoint and replace with no damage.

This is the steering balljoint which connects to the stuffed lower suspension balljoint on the Celsior - no wonder a bad balljoint affects the steering so much.
ball2.jpg
ball2.jpg		 I have removed the small steering balljoint and the two bolts that hold the balljoint to the upright or hub. That was the quick easy part! My balljoint pusher wasn't big enough to remove the main balljoint. But my hammer was! I used one of those mini sledgehammers to bash it out - took quite a few whacks.
ball3.jpg
ball3.jpg		 I got my new balljoints from James Sloane at Castle Hill Toyota in NSW.
Phone +61 (0) 2 8831 8831
Toll Free 1800 111 388 Castle Hill Toyota Parts
I like talking to James because I don't need part numbers, he sorts it all out, posts them to me real quick and gets me the best prices. The balljoints retail for $170 - but James can beat that.

 
ball4.jpg
ball4.jpg		 Nearl all done. The new Toyota balljoints come with new nuts and split pins too. The whole job didn't take that long.

The steering has improved out of sight. I'm still getting some thunks from the front shocks so they will be the next things to change.

 
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http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/suspension/flowerarm.html

I also like this type of balljoint pusher. Similar to Pitman arm Pullers.

 

 

 

 

 

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