[whyzee125]

Hey there - I'm installing M3 control arms on my 335i and I can't seem to get the stupid nut off the lower control arm ball joint. In one of pelican parts's tutorials, they suggested jacking up the whole hub assembly from the ball joint and then removing it.. It didn't work, so I got a torx bit screwdriver with a vice grip and put it in the bolt, and got a 21mm wrench to remove the nut. Broke the screwdriver and it didn't budge.. odd thing is, it's most of the way loose. I may just cut it but I'm going to try buying a torx socket in the morning. Anyone found any tips to make my life easier? Thanks in advance.

[MrN1ceGuy]

Been there. Done that.
The nut probably cross tread the ball joint and seized up.
If you have enough room, take an angle grinder to it and get a new nut from dealer for a couple of dollars.

[whyzee125]

Sorry it happened to you too; it's a huge pain in the butt! Thankfully the TRW kit actually came with new nuts so I'll probably just start grinding those suckers off. Thanks!

Originally Posted by MrN1ceGuy

Been there. Done that.
The nut probably cross tread the ball joint and seized up.
If you have enough room, take an angle grinder to it and get a new nut from dealer for a couple of dollars.

[PhaseP]

Anyone found any tips to make my life easier?

Invest in a good impact wrench, air or battery powered!

An impact wrench would have most probably gotten that nut off in a second.
If no impact wrench, like you wrote get a torx socket and wrench. Make sure to use the correct torx size, the hole will have some rust and dirt in it making it initially seem smaller than it really is. Smaller torx bit can strip it off. Spray some penetrating oil and try to fit the biggest torx bit that goes in tight.

If still having trouble, hit the wrench on the nut with a dead blow hammer to turn it while holding the ball joint stud with the torx bit. The hammering of the wrench is basically a very slow and less efficient impact wrench operation.

[abeardo83]

I had the same issue. The nut has stripped the thread. It's happened because you've applied too much radial force slowly. I used a short breaker on nut 1 - no issues. Nut 2 - no issues. Longer breaker on nuts 3 and 4...issues.

Angle grind the bu66ers off. If you use a small disc, it's easy. Just make sure you use gloves, as the sparks WILL come back on your hands (i melted my left Mechanix glove doing it). Go slowly and check your progress often. If you get it wrong, you start grinding the hub!

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by MrN1ceGuy

Been there. Done that.
The nut probably cross tread the ball joint and seized up.
If you have enough room, take an angle grinder to it and get a new nut from dealer for a couple of dollars.

Yup I believe that's what happened. Bought a socket star bit set and broke it immediately. Got a replacement and the other side came out just fine. I'll have to grind it off. Thankfully my kit from TRW came with new nuts!

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

I had the same issue. The nut has stripped the thread. It's happened because you've applied too much radial force slowly. I used a short breaker on nut 1 - no issues. Nut 2 - no issues. Longer breaker on nuts 3 and 4...issues.

Angle grind the bu66ers off. If you use a small disc, it's easy. Just make sure you use gloves, as the sparks WILL come back on your hands (i melted my left Mechanix glove doing it). Go slowly and check your progress often. If you get it wrong, you start grinding the hub!

Awesome, thanks for the tip! I bought a little air cutter and some extra little blades for it today so I'll get to work sunday and hopefully get it done..

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by PhaseP

Invest in a good impact wrench, air or battery powered!

An impact wrench would have most probably gotten that nut off in a second.
If no impact wrench, like you wrote get a torx socket and wrench. Make sure to use the correct torx size, the hole will have some rust and dirt in it making it initially seem smaller than it really is. Smaller torx bit can strip it off. Spray some penetrating oil and try to fit the biggest torx bit that goes in tight.

If still having trouble, hit the wrench on the nut with a dead blow hammer to turn it while holding the ball joint stud with the torx bit. The hammering of the wrench is basically a very slow and less efficient impact wrench operation.

I tried the hammer method today and broke my star bit haha. I bought a little air grinder so hopefully that'll do the trick. THanks!

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

I tried the hammer method today and broke my star bit haha. I bought a little air grinder so hopefully that'll do the trick. THanks!

Air gun?

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

Hey there - I'm installing M3 control arms on my 335i and I can't seem to get the stupid nut off the lower control arm ball joint. In one of pelican parts's tutorials, they suggested jacking up the whole hub assembly from the ball joint and then removing it.. It didn't work, so I got a torx bit screwdriver with a vice grip and put it in the bolt, and got a 21mm wrench to remove the nut. Broke the screwdriver and it didn't budge.. odd thing is, it's most of the way loose. I may just cut it but I'm going to try buying a torx socket in the morning. Anyone found any tips to make my life easier? Thanks in advance.

I just went through the same issue. Lots of Liquid Wrench, time and two long wrenches inter-locked got-er-done. No bloody knuckles this time either!

[whyzee125]

ended up grinding the nut off with the air cutter. job turned into a big pain in the butt because of that but it's all done now. took it in for an alignment and they snapped a bolt off my trailing arm lol should have the car back tuesday, can't wait!

[Adieu]

Torch and candle

[bNks334]

I broke some rust free by first using a 21mm deep socket on the nuts. Then I went at them with the E40orE45? socket (used with a breaker bar) and a 21mm wrench interlocked with another for more leverage, once they started spinning freely.

I ended up going through 3 E40orE45? sockets to get my M3 controls arms installed. Lots of pb blaster was used and allowed to soak. I still kept bending them. Take it slowwwww even if the nut starts to move.

Tightening them was my issue. I could not get them any tighter than 75ftlb without bending the torx bit I was using to prevent the ball joint from spinning freely. How does a mechanic get 125+ ftlbs on these nuts?

I ended up hitting the 75ftlbs and then it appears that was "tight enough" to keep the ball joint from spinning. I then did a final torque with the deep socket to hit the 125ft lbs. It felt/looked like they actually torqued further and didn't just spin freely.