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The 1969 Chevy Camaro is one of the legendary muscle cars. The Camaro was Chevys competitive answer to the Ford Mustang. The Camaro was born in September 1966, when Chevy offered the first 1967 model Camaro for sale. The first-generation Camaro ran from 1967 through 1969. The Camaro appealed to many, and it came equipped with an inline six-cylinder engine for the grocery-getter crowd and a big-block Chevy engine for the muscle car lovers. The car was a unitized body construction with a bolt on front stub. The car also became immensely popular as a short-track stock car.

Instructions

1

Park the Camaro on a solid, level surface. Block the rear wheels. Loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels a half-turn, but dont remove them.

2

Place a floor jack under the front center frame of the car, and raise the front wheels off the ground. Remove the front wheels. Insert wooden blocks under the lower A-arms, and lower the jack to bring the car down onto the blocks.

3

Remove the cotter pin from the castle nut on the upper ball joint. Loosen and remove the large castle nut from the upper ball joint.

4

Grind the rivet heads off the four rivets that mount the ball joint to the upper A-arm. After grinding off the rivet heads, the pin circle of the rivet will appear. Use a punch smaller than the rivet pin circle to punch the rivet out of the upper A-arm.

5

Insert a ball joint pickle fork between the top of the spindle and the ball joint. Strike the rear shaft of the pickle fork with a hammer to free the ball joint taper of the spindle. Swing up the upper A-arm, and remove the old ball joint.

6

Install the new ball joint and the rubber boot into the upper A-arm, using the included bolts instead of rivets. Tighten the four small bolts and lock nuts that secure the ball joint to the A-arm. Align the ball joints tapered shaft with the upper spindle hole, and push the shaft into the spindle. Insert the castle nut onto the ball joint shaft, and tighten it. Insert the cotter pin through the castle nut, and spread the cotter pin so it stays in place. Thread the grease zerk into the ball joint.

7

Jack up the Camaro, put the front wheels back on the car, and tighten all the lug nuts. Lower the car to the ground.

When ball joints go bad, the result can be a vehicle and driver sitting on the side of the road with one of the front tires folded underneath the vehicle. There was a day when changing lower ball joints was challenging and still can be on vehicles with traditional coil spring suspension. Most automobiles today, however, have some type of strut suspension and are much safer to work on in the owners garage. One of the biggest challenges for a do-it-yourself individual is how to separate the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle.

Instructions

1

Chock the rear wheels with a wheel chock on each rear wheel. Raise the front end of the vehicle far enough that the front tires do not touch the ground, by positioning a floor jack under the engine cross member and raising the floor jack, following the instructions in the jack manufacturers owners manual. Place jack stands beneath the front jacking points of the vehicle and extend the center posts of the jack stand as far as they will go. Lower the vehicle onto the jack stands, following the instructions in the jack manufacturers owners manual and ensuring the front tires of the vehicle are still off the ground.

2

Remove the lug nuts holding the wheels to the vehicle with the vehicles lug wrench and remove the wheel.

3

Remove the brake caliper, if equipped with disc brakes, from the steering knuckle, following the instructions in the vehicle manufacturers repair manual. Use a piece of wire to hang the caliper from the strut in such a way that there is no pressure on the brake line that leads to the caliper and ensure the caliper will not be in the way of the work at hand.

4

Straighten the ends of the cotter pin that is in the hole in the ball joint shaft with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Pull the other end of the cotter pin out of the hole, using the needle-nose pliers. The cotter pin prevents the crown nut from accidentally coming loose.

5

Remove the crown nut from the ball-joint shaft by putting the appropriate size wrench from a toolkit on the nut and turning the nut counterclockwise until it is off the ball joint shaft.

6

Insert the fork end of a ball-joint separator, more commonly known as a pickle fork, between the lower control arm and the steering knuckle, ensuring the ball-joint shaft is aligned with the center of the pickle fork. Hit the other end of the pickle fork with a hammer, wedging the pickle fork between the lower control arm and the steering knuckle until the ball joint, which is mounted in the lower control arm and the steering knuckle have separated.

The Mercedes Benz W126 is one of the first S-Class vehicles that Mercedes Benz produced. Manufactured between 1979 and 1991, the W126 had the longest production life of any of the S-Class vehicles to date. The ball joint of the W126 requires a specific removal tool that is more common today but was revolutionary during the early model-years of the W126.

Ball Joint Puller

The ball joint puller is a specialty tool that removes the ball joint from the steering mechanism (control arm) of the Mercedes W126. The C-shaped apparatus has two C-shaped portions, one that connects to the ball joint and one to the control arm. A machined screw with a turning nut attached to it connects the C-shaped pieces. A standard open-faced wrench is used to turn the screw of the ball joint puller, which loosens the ball joint from the steering rods.

Open-faced Wrench

An open-faced wrench is required to turn the fixed turning nut of the ball joint puller designed specifically for the W126. An alternative to the open-faced wrench is an adjustable wrench.

Impact Wrench

The impact wrench is a power tool with a torque-driven drill. An impact wrench will remove the wheel quickly from the W126, giving you access to the ball joint. At this point, the ball joint remover tools are used to disconnect the joint.