Hi guys,
I've just changed the ball joints on the front control arms of my 2005 V70 and I'd like to share a couple of things that I found that would have been really good to know before I started (I tried two different ways - one made me worried that I'd just knackered my car, the other was easy-er):

1. use a ratchet strap to pull the control arm you're working on as low as possible (work against the opposite control arm) - this will save you so much aggravation - I mean really, shed loads of agro.

2. do the change of ball joint OFF the car. getting the old one out is easy - getting the new one in without a press is a pain in the *** (even with the tool)

3. when you take the wheel hub off the outer cv shaft be prepared to 'convince' it with a hammer and large screw driver (hit the end of the cv shaft once you've taken the bolt out of the centre of the CV joint where it goes through the wheel). If you just yank on it you will drag the shaft out of the inner cv (I did this by accident on one side)

4. When you come to put the wheel hub assembly back on the car sit in front of the suspension strut/control arm and put the hub on rotated 90 degrees to its normal alignment (so you're putting it on straight but the top and bottom are running horizontal not vertical) - this will give you the space you need to get it on the drive shaft without making you angry (if you put it on straight and normal to start with you struggle to force everything else into place.

5. Once you have the outer cv joint back in the wheel hub get the ball joint seated (you don't need to put the nut on the bottom - just sit it in the hole). This will take the weight of your arms and allow you to get the cv joint all the way in to the splined shaft of the hub. It will also allow just enough room to move the suspension strut around to the correct place so you can use a screw driver through one of the bolt holes to line it up.

6. If you're not using Volvo parts get yourself a piece of sandpaper (about 200 grit) - you're going to use this to reduce the profile of the splines on the new ball joints front side - you're going to make it rounder and therefore less of a problem to get in the hole. When you look at your replacement ball joint the part of the joint that sits inside the casting has splines on it - these are also inside the casting. If the splines are too proud they just dig in as you hammer the ball joint in to the casting and it wont go in properly.

Also the tools you need to do this job are very limited:
10, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21 mm ring spanners (and sockets would be good)
Torx 40 socket.
7mm allen key (for the back of the brake calipers) - if you haven't got torx40's
ratchet strap
Hammer large screwdriver
pliers/pipe grips
piece of scaffolding pipe (heavy piece of pipe that you're going to beat the crap out of instead of hitting the ball joint directly with a coal chisel)


Be aware - getting the new ball joint seated in the casting is a PITA if you're doing it manually - don't be disheartened if you need to spend a lot of time hammering the crap out of it.

I hope that this information is helpful to someone else.
If there's anything else you'd like to add to this please feel free.

Paul.