So the boots on the upper ball joints are torn at all four (4) corners and the tie rod end ball joints are torn as well.

I've read a thread on replacing this: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...orn-up-134465/

At this point I'm still working on the first front one.
I have the capiers detached and the rotors removed. I'm doing a brake job as well.

So after reading the Jtis procedure on these two items I find that the torque specifications are as follows:

Tie rod end to steering knuckle is 100 Nm. This one has has hollow tip which takes a 5mm allen wrench.

Upper ball joint is 90 Nm. That's the one with the solid hex tip of 8mm.

Both are utilizing a flanged nut with a nylock insert.

The center tip is meant to keep the joint from rotating while the nut is torqued.

My upper nut came loose rather easily. No way was it torqued to 90 Nm. I've had the car since 15K miles so I doubt these have ever been touched before.

The lower nut I cracked loose with breaker bar and 18mm socket and then used a box wrench and inserted allen wrench tip. This worked just fine.

for assembly I cannot get a good enough grip on my box style wrench to apply that level of torque and it would only be a guess anyway.

Now that new boots are on preventing rotation is important.

1. How are people tightening these? I can only think of using a crows foot wrench attached to my torque wrench. I have a straight crows foot set but I think a flare style 18mm version would do a better job.

2. Between the 8mm solid tip and the 5mm hex tip it seems like an awful lot of torque to be applying to such small wrench sizes? Has anyone had any issues with this? Precautions? Damaging this could prove quite costly!

3. For the rear upper ball joints the Jtis says to have the car resting on the ground before tightening this up. While I understand that requirement for the arms end bushing nuts this seems like an error for the upper ball joint retaining nut. What possible difference could it make and they don't mention it for the front ones? Am I missing something here or is this a SERVICE MANUAL ERROR?

 

I can report that on half of those locations there was no way to get that level of torque applied but I came close with 80 & 90 NM. When torquing nuts/bolts there comes a time when you can feel it's moving but not getting tighter and you need to stop. Go too far and the part is ruined.

I'm not doing the rear suspension at this time as it needs way more replacement than we first thought. So I can't answer the last question.

 

Hi Staatsof,

Usually, once you get the ball joint nut to a certain degree of tightness, the tapered shaft of the joint will lock into the tapered bore and the resulting friction will prevent the shaft from rotating while you apply the final torque, so you don't have to hold the end of the shaft with an Allen or hex wrench. If your ball joint shafts never get to the point where they won't rotate, is it possible they are contaminated with oil or grease? If so, your best bet is to take the nut off, separate the joint and thoroughly clean the tapered shaft and bore with brake cleaner or another zero-residue solvent, and dry them with compressed air before reassembling.

Regarding the instructions to have the car resting on its weight before tightening the rear upper ball joints, I can't explain that either, but for easier access to the ball joint nut, you can do it with the wheel off by putting a jack with a wooden board under the lower control arm and raising it just until the weight of the car comes off your jack stand and is all being supported by the lower control arm and spring.

Cheers,

Don

 

Everything was cleaned up nicely with brake clean. So no I'm not going to try again. These things aren't meant to be repeatedly loosened tightened. Technically this is a use once throw away part. I find it to be rather slender engineering ...

 

Not sure what year you have but on the 2002&down s-types watch the lowers especially. There is little to no taper, it uses a circular cup to locate the ball joint shaft. If it not tightened all the way to spec it will come loose and break the ball joint stud and damage the lower arm.

 

The MY of my car is in my signature. I'm confident. I've been down this road before. I just wanted to relay it so that people in similar situations don't try to keep tightening and break something in the process.

 

1) Sorry but I saw no signature because I wasn't logged in, just an ad for Coventry wheels.
2) You may be confident but your statement "for assembly I cannot get a good enough grip on my box style wrench to apply that level of torque and it would only be a guess anyway." sounds like with all that confidence you have no clue how tight you are making these nuts. They issued a torque spec for a reason and I have never seen a Torque Box Wrench before.
3) you cant put a crows foot on a torque wrench unless you do some serious calculations to compensate for the added leverage of the crows foot.
I was just trying to make sure others understood how important proper torque was when tightening these nuts. Sorry I weighed in.

 

It's the only reasonable way to put a wrench on the nut for the proper level of tightening that I can fathom as trying to to tighten via the 8mm solid tip or the 5mm hex bit would rotate the joint and thus possible tear the boot ...

Have you another approach?

 

Torque wrenches with box-end wrench attachments are available from companies like Proto, Belknap, Sturtevant Richmont, SK and Snap-On, but they are very expensive. However, open-end torque wrench sets are available at very reasonable prices. I have a Taiwan-made set by Neiko similar to the one shown below and it works really well. I've compared its calibration with my expensive torque wrenches from CDI, Precision Instruments and Snap On and it is surprisingly accurate. Search eBay for options:



Cheers,

Don

 

I was reading this post because I have made the same repair and was curious..on the flip side I love tools and have a lot myself but nothing like this torque set...thanks for posting the pic and manufacturer..going to hunt one up right now...even if I use a tool or piece of equipment once a year it is worth it

 

https://www.ebay.com/i/162863963280?chn=ps

I think this is what's being mentioned. This would be the first time in 40 years that I've needed such a thing.

Presumably as long as the crow's foot wrench is straight on with my torque wrench handle I should be close. Perhaps tighter.

But there's another issue with this style of wrench in these spots and that's whether you can get the wrench with that long handle in position to swing it to set the final torque?

For the front tie rod ball joints you can always rotate the steering to get better swing room but not on the top one.

I'm not tackling the rear on my car right now as it needs so many replacements and I need to get the car back on the road. I'm probably going to have a shop to that as I think it's best done on a lift and it involves pressing new bushings. I don't have those tools. It will also need an alignment afterwards. But swing room looks to be an issue in the rear as well so being able to approach the nut from multiple directions probably will help.

Tougher to do on jack stands than on a lift.

 

Don B.
Based on your comment about the NEIKO torque wrench, I ordered one for I needed a new one.
Fast forward to today when it was delivered. The wife came in and said I had a heavy package. So went to get it and about broke an arm picking it up.
If the weight has anything to do with quality, this one should be a great unit in my shop. :-)

Thanks
Chuck