Thread: Steering - Lower ball joint seal disintegrated (I think?)

Usually when the seals disintegrate like that on the lower balljoint means that the balljoint is most likely worn. You can test this by inserting a bar near the balljoint where the two knuckles meet and feel if there is any play. Or you could completely remove the hub, pull out the axle and cv and then remove the knuckle with a large hammer. If the knuckle is lose, they it needs to be replaced. I recently replaced all the balljoints on my car myself, but I had to spend some time making some special tools as they are in VERY tight. I took photos as I went along, I will make up a step by step tutorial on how to do this very soon. More and more d2's will have worn balljoints now due to their ages.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...-help-plz.html

I have posted a step by step guide on how to replace the balljoints, look in the projects and tutorials section.

Hendrik,
Thanks for the tutorial but that is very beyond my capabilities.
I have been advised to wrap tape around the seals to keep the crud out.

Simon

Hey, I posted the original thread linked in this topic, and have since done a bit of ringing around to investigate. The guys at Rover tech reckon they have just replaced the boots previously, although I cant see the point of doing this as you might as well do the ball joints at the same time for the effort involved.

The parts , including ball joints are cheap. Perhaps $140 odd for both sides, upper and lower. The big cost is the labour which from memory was around $600, possibly a bit more.

cheers
Nick

Originally Posted by skaufman

Hendrik,
Thanks for the tutorial but that is very beyond my capabilities.
I have been advised to wrap tape around the seals to keep the crud out.

Simon

A bit of silicon (sikaflex) would also help to keep the crud out for the time being.