250 Replacing hub carrier lower balljoint/pivot bearing

Depends what you mean by basic tools. If you only have a screwdriver & socket set then you will struggle. A basic press should do the job.

 

I purchased one from ebay for £50/£60 (press), did the job & should be ok for the next time they will no doubt need doing.

 

I’ve done this nearly 10 times in total now. Great design in terms of performance, but terrible in terms of reliability.

Anyway, this is my advice:

Don’t use a hydraulic press, you can end up damaging the hub carrier. I used to use one but didn’t have the right attachments/blocks etc on the press one time and just used a lump hammer and a bar. Turns out it’s much easier that way!

Aaron’s Autos in Derby (who became famous for doing just this job) have also started using a lump hammer because they cracked a Clio 197 upright when doing the upper ball joint.

Have the new ball joint in the freezer ready to go in. Knock out the old one with said lump hammer. Clean up the hole ready. Take new ball joint out of the freezer and fit it into the hub using a large socket (or equivalent) and a bench vice.

The bigger the lump hammer, the better.