Omega Wishbones - am I off my rocker?

Adz

Adz

Adz

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,296
Location
Berkshire
I want to change the wishbones on my '99 Omega at the weekend. There's a set on eBay brand new for £50 for the pair and I've got a very good mechanic just down the road who would do the job in about an hour and charge peanuts but I had this crazy idea that it might be fun to have a crack at it myself...

Has anyone done this job before? Is there anything else I'm likely to need in the process? Am I setting myself up for an embarassing blunder? Am I going to end up calling my friendly local mechanic on the Monday asking him to come and recover my car because I've cocked it up? :D

I've done a few simple jobs in the past (sensors, belts, etc) but nothing suspension/steering related.

If I do decide to do it, I might post some pics for your amusement ;).
 
Have you got a breaker bar?

You'll be dealing with pretty big, pretty well seized bolts. If you haven't got the tools to free them off then don't even bother starting.
 
I would take it to your mate and watch/help him do it. Learn from it, but dont risk messing everything up :)
 
kaiowas said:
Have you got a breaker bar?

You'll be dealing with pretty big, pretty well seized bolts. If you haven't got the tools to free them off then don't even bother starting.
Click to expand...

I've got a big breaker bar, various extensions and a fairly mediocre socket set. What I don't have is the balljoint separating tool which I believe I need but I should be able to get hold of one before the weekend.

I did manage to drop one side of the engine on my cavalier to change the ancilliary belt which went relatively smoothly so I'm no stranger to stuck bolts ;).
 
There not to bad to do..
Used to get an hour a side when i was working at vauxhall..The only pain is getting the new arms back in because the strut hangs in the way.. :)
 
Shouldn't be too hard ;)

If like me and you don't have a ball jont separator,I tend to use a trolley jack and jack up the front suspension under the loosened ball joint nut, (obviously have an axle stand as well to support under the car)

Once you've jacked it up enough, i.e the car is lifted a mm or 2 off the axle stand, bash the ball joint surround with a suitable hammer, it'll come free :)
 
Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm certainly going to have a good crack at it :).
 
An easy way to get some tension off the balljoint is to jack up the car, then lower it onto an axle stand located under the balljoint itself. Once thats done and the spring is compressed, then wrap a decent chain around the spring, and slot a nut/bolt through it to secure it. Then raise it again, the spring will stay compressed.

Then all you need to do is undo the bolt that holds the balljoint together, and smack it with a hammer :D
 
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