P38 lower ball joints

[landrover dave]

A couple of months ago I had the lovely job of replacing lower ball joints on a P38. After talking to various local "experts" we worked out that nobody had ever replaced them! Even the dealer didnt have the special tools to do the job!
The process we worked out was to remove the outer hub/swivel and cv joint with axle. Place the new ball joints in freezer over night or longer. Remove the excess metal above the housing so that is flush. Burn the centre of the ball joint out with oxy. While the housing is still warm use a trolley jack or similar and large socket/pipe to press the cold joint into the housing.
When proficient we got the second side done in about 15 mins, not counting disassembly or re-assembly.

[p38arover]

I had mine replaced last year - mainly because the boots had failed and the were susceptible to accelerated wear from dirt ingress.

So I had both top and bottom done.

[Hoges]

pls forgive partial thread hijack...short of bandwidth

Greetings P38 brothers!

...currently 150 km Sth of Weipa... sitting on the tailgate tapping this out using the message stick... gotta love the rangie and EAS...after leaving the bitumen and 800km of some of the worst corrugations ever experienced...some are so deep people take a wrong turn at the bottom and get lost...others are using their satphones to get help for chipped teeth ))

nothing loose nor missing as far as I can determine ...

I took a spare set of ball joints with me (just in case) plus a ball joint press as per the rangerovers.net excellent article (with lots of pics) as to how to replace ...no need ,I hope, for oxy torch. A can of Loctite Freeze and Release also works well...(can always freeze them in the car fridge!)

The ball joints are fine as best I can tell but the boots are somewhat butchered : just hoping I don't have to change them. A section of bike tyre as a sleeve, Loctite superglue 406 to seal the seam and zip ties seem to be doing a reasonable job at present in keeping dirt away ....

Pulling home made trailer...7' draw bar with 2 spares and 250L freightliner tank (mounted in a big box), Navara D40 tub and ARB enclosed canopy with Austrack roof top tent on h/d rhino bars on canopy. All up weight about 800kg incl 180L fuel.

ULP prices vary from 145 (Musgrave) -155 (Archer River)

Average fuel over 2,700km 17.7L/100km.

Long live the P38 ball joints and EAS

[landrover dave]

pls forgive partial thread hijack...short of bandwidth

Greetings P38 brothers!

...currently 150 km Sth of Weipa... sitting on the tailgate tapping this out using the message stick... gotta love the rangie and EAS...after leaving the bitumen and 800km of some of the worst corrugations ever experienced...some are so deep people take a wrong turn at the bottom and get lost...others are using their satphones to get help for chipped teeth ))

nothing loose nor missing as far as I can determine ...

I took a spare set of ball joints with me (just in case) plus a ball joint press as per the rangerovers.net excellent article (with lots of pics) as to how to replace ...no need ,I hope, for oxy torch. A can of Loctite Freeze and Release also works well...(can always freeze them in the car fridge!)

The ball joints are fine as best I can tell but the boots are somewhat butchered : just hoping I don't have to change them. A section of bike tyre as a sleeve, Loctite superglue 406 to seal the seam and zip ties seem to be doing a reasonable job at present in keeping dirt away ....

Pulling home made trailer...7' draw bar with 2 spares and 250L freightliner tank (mounted in a big box), Navara D40 tub and ARB enclosed canopy with Austrack roof top tent on h/d rhino bars on canopy. All up weight about 800kg incl 180L fuel.

ULP prices vary from 145 (Musgrave) -155 (Archer River)

Average fuel over 2,700km 17.7L/100km.

Long live the P38 ball joints and EAS

Good luck with the Loctite freeze and the press. We tried Wurth's similar product and heat and sledge hammer all we achieved was to mushroom the tops of the ball joints!!!!!! Hence cutting them out.

[Silver Hornet]

I am planning on replacing my front ball joints and oil seal on my P38 and the RR manual refers to Land Rover tool LRT-54006 to align the set up on replacement. I am thinking of making one and I am wondering if anyone has a photo. The manual has a line drawing of the tool but its not good enough to work from and I cannot get a hold of one. I thought if I made a tool it could be used by all.