Front Ball Joint - Subaru Legacy 2002 Service Manual

Front Suspension

4. Front Ball Joint

A: REMOVAL
S202114A18
1) Set vehicle on a lift.
2) Disconnect ground cable from battery.
3) Lift-up the vehicle and remove the wheel.
4) Pull out the cotter pin from the ball stud, remove
the castle nut, and extract the ball stud from the
transverse link.
5) Remove the bolt securing the ball joint to the
housing.
6) Extract the ball joint from the housing.
B: INSTALLATION
1) Install ball joint onto housing.
Tightening torque (Bolt):
50 N·m (5.1 kgf-m, 37 ft-lb)
CAUTION:
Do not apply grease to tapered portion of ball
stud.
2) Connect ball joint to transverse link.
Tightening torque (Castle nut):
39 N·m (4.0 kgf-m, 29 ft-lb)
3) Retighten castle nut further within 60° until a
slot in castle nut is aligned with the hole in ball stud
end, then insert new cotter pin and bend it around
castle nut.
4) Install front wheel.
FRONT BALL JOINT
S202114
G4M0499
S202114A11
FS-16
C: INSPECTION
1) Measure free play of ball joint by the following
procedures. Replace with a new one when the free
play exceeds the specified value.
(1) With 686 N (70 kgf, 154 lb) loaded in the
direction shown in the figure, measure dimen-
sion .
1
(2) With 686 N (70 kgf, 154 lb) loaded in the
opposite direction shown in the figure, measure
dimension .
2
(3) Calculate free play from the following for-
mula. S = −
2 1
(4) When free play is larger than the following
value, replace with a new one.
FRONT BALL JOINT
Specified play for replacement: S
Less than 0.3 mm (0.012 in)
2) When free play is smaller than the specified
value, visually inspect the dust cover.
3) The ball joint and cover that have been
removed must be checked for wear, damage or
cracks, and any defective part must be replaced.
4) If the dust cover is damaged, replace with the
new ball joint.
S202114A10
G4M0500
G4M0501