Okay, so here is the infamous Spanner socket. I got it from Rockauto.com for $18.00 or so. I removed the spanner nut and put in the new one.
Put the boots on the joints with the marks on them pointing inward like this...
When you put the spindles on the axle housing, you have to tighten the lower one first. Be sure to place a jack underneath and push it up, otherwise the joint will keep on spinning. This keeps pressure on the ball joint and keeps the tightening nut from spinning. This is what I did...
You have to follow the OEM specs, and you
HAVE TO FOLLOW THE TIGHTENING SEQUENCE!
This is straight from the 1973 OEM assembly manual:
1) Tighten lower ball joint to 70 ft/lbs
2) Tighten upper ball joint adjusting sleeve to 50 ft/lbs
3) Tighten upper ball joint castle nut to 100 ft/lbs.
When all is said and done, I had about 2 threads peaking out from under the top like this...
