1999 Kawasaki Lakota, removing balljoints?

[ninhalo5]

Hi, I'm wondering does anyone know what size socket is needed to get the ball joints out of the A frame?

I've tried using a large adjustable wrench which just falls off of the 1/8" thick nut and the same went for a big pair of channel locks. I'm guessing you have to have a socket to turn it.

Also when I removed the bolt from the lower ball joint there was a groove in the center of the bolt, does this groove supposed to be there? to me it looks like it's been worn out or grinded perhaps, I know on some cars the balljoint bolt is supposed to have a egg shaped groove in them to help keep the balljoint from freely rotating.

Thanks

[DirtDemon]

Can you please post the year of your machine so we can add it to the thread title? From what I can tell there is a snap ring that holds the ball joint into the a-arms. I have seen grooves in the threaded part of the ball joint before, I don't know if that is how it is supposed to be on your machine.

[ninhalo5]

it's a 99 lakota, to my understanding nothing changed on any of the years, hopefully someone knows about removing these things

yes, each balljoint has a snap ring on the flat side that goes through the A frame, on the opposite side of the A frame is a nut which is somewhere around 1-1/2" although it should be metric. The illustration in the clymer manual shows threads going around the balljoint and threads in the A frame but does not explain how to get the joints out. The nut is extremely thin and impossible to get any wrench on it, it seems. I'm waiting on my new joint to come in the post, hopefully I'll be able to match a socket to it. I'll prob need a torch and a jackhammer as well lol

[DirtDemon]

True, they probably did not changeover the years, we just like to have the year make and model in all our thread tiltles. I understand your problem now, you could try and measure it, but it may be easier to take the new one with you to match it up to a socket. 1 1/2" is roughly 38mm. Heating the a-arm up a little bit might help loosen the bolt up, so a torch may actually be usefull. I would leave the jackhammer as a last resort though, only use that if it really pisses you off and needs to be taught a lesson. Good luck.

Edited May 1, 2010 by DirtDemon

[ninhalo5]

at least I can get a full A arm replacement on Ebay for $60 if I have to really give it some learnin

[DirtDemon]

In that case, break out the jackhammer and git er fixed up good.