Front Hub Removal

Ultimately I am planning to repaint the whole visible engine bay area with some form of chassis paint. All the nooks and crannies of the engine bay and suspension mounts were covered in engine oil, LHM and road grit. A leaking front suspension boot added to the mess. This had started to drip and spread LHM under the engine area. 

I could probably get away with painting the underside of the car without removing the front suspension, but painting the engine bay and tusks really meant getting the suspension and pipework removed....

Engine bay - January 2020

The front height corrector, and other pipework, are hidden away behind a cover at the back of the left hand front wheel arch. 

Some of the pipework in front left hand wheel arch

They pass through various holes in the chassis and find there way to the area of the hydraulic reservoir and front brakes. 

Pipes and hoses in the engine bay

I'd already removed many of the pipes in that area over a year ago......It's far to complicated to write up which ones were removed and in what order. If you do it, take LOTS of photos of the routing of the pipes, their joins and their clamps.

Rats nest of pipework

Ready to now continue the work, I first removed the wheel hubs from the suspension arms, so that I had better access and more working room. they would have to come off at some point anyway as I plan to rebuild the suspension arms. I removed the drive shafts last year. You can read about that HERE.

The factory tools for ball joint splitting are cupped ball joint separators and you might struggle to find equivalent ones big enough for this job. Citroen make a different tool for separating the track rods as the angles and clearance are awkward

Tool 3312-T in use

Sealey and Laser make similar tools but these are cripplingly expensive. Especially if only used rarely. I shopped around and found a bargain priced Sealey tool and managed to use that.

In the absence of a cup separator, the usual solution is to resort to a lever-type separator. They are widely available. But that is also their downside: they vary greatly and you might struggle to find a suitable one. 

Sealey tool VS3804

Examples of ball joint tools

Part of the problem is the thickness of the two fingers that go around the ball joint pin. Often these are too thick to go between the hub and the arm. Even where they are slim enough, you might find the gap between the fingers is too narrow to allow the tool to go around the ball pin. The scissor action might not provide the clearance to go over the end of the ball joint pin. If that wasn't enough, they might simply not be strong enough for the job and break.

Note the massive size of this tool!
(photo credit: Citroen ID/ DS Club Nederland)

The alternative is to use 'shock tactics'. Quite literally. All you need is two hefty hammers, a good eye and straing nerves. There is some risk to this approach so do it only if you are prepared to accept those risks. Starting with the top joint: loosely replace the nut back on the pin to protect it's threads. The technique is to hit the two opposite sides of the eye that the ball pin passes through - with two large hammers and at the same time. HARD. As the pin is still in place, there is negligible risk of distorting they eye shape but the coordinated blows causes the eye to distort 'ripple' and the shock wave loosens the pin. Gravity and the weight of the hub and lower arm cause them to drop - freeing the pin. That's the theory anyway......

On the bottom joint, gravity is working against you. The weight of the hub and top arm are pressing the pin more tightly into the eye. Using a cup or scissor splitter on the bottom joint means that the tool also needs to lift the weight of the hub as well as push against the pin. Many cheap and small tools are simply not up to the job and need some help.

The tool is struggling to 'lift' the hub
(Photo credit: unknown)

The trick here is to lift the weight of the hub. With the nut loosely fixed to the ball pin of the top arm, you need to find a way to prop up or lift that top arm - and so lift the hub....You might be able to do this with a jack, or even by wedging a piece of wood between the arm and the ground. Avoid the temptation to put anything inside the hub 'doughnut' or risk damaging it.

With the weight lifted, in the absence of a splitter tool the same 'shock tactics' technique can be used to loosen the bottom ball joint pin. In this scenario, as well as simply lifting the weight of the hub, putting a little extra force on the upper arm to push it up, helps. BUT you need to avoid the situation where you are effectively jacking up the car from under the suspension arm - for fear of bending the arm. As before, hitting the two opposite sides of the eye that the ball pin passes through - with two large hammers and at the same time - causes the eye to distort fractionally  and the shock wave loosens the pin. Again, leave the nut loosely fitted to the bottom ball joint to reduce the risk of damage to the threads. With a couple of heavy and coordinated clouts, the modest weight of the lower suspension arm, coupled with minor pressure lifting the hub and top arm should be enough to free up the ball pin. Easy!