Lower ball joint removal question

[gmcman]

Looking at them tonight, is it possible to remove the joints by seperating the upper control arm and sliding the axle out, thus gaining access to the top of the lower ball joint? Am I thinking this correctly or is there more to it?

Needless to say I want to remove as little as possible, looks like after I remove the above mentioned the lower will pop out of the LCA then I can take the tool to it.

 

[Hypnotoad]

When I did them, I was able to leave the axle connected. I disconnected the brake line and abs sensor wire, disconnected the upper ball joint and lifted the knuckle off of the lower ball joint. It's difficult to lift off, but it can be done.

 

[6716]

When I did them, I was able to leave the axle connected. I disconnected the brake line and abs sensor wire, disconnected the upper ball joint and lifted the knuckle off of the lower ball joint. It's difficult to lift off, but it can be done.

I've got everything off but the lower ball joint. I'm pulling the steering knuckle to get a better shot at the upper ball joint ... I wasn't able to press it out with the knuckle still attached.

So the knuckle is completely bare, and the upper ball joint is out of the upper control arm.

Are you saying the steering knuckle ought to lift right off the lower ball joint?

Because I'm a little stuck and the puller set I borrowed isn't getting the knuckle separated from the ball joint.

What am I doing wrong do you suppose?

 

[Hypnotoad]

It's been a while since I did them, and don't remember everything perfectly.

It won't just come off. If I remember correctly, remove the nut from the lower ball joint. Then, use a pitman arm puller to release the knuckle from the ball joint. It takes a lot of muscle, but I was able to manuever the knuckle and set it on top of a short stool.

 

[gmcman]

I did a write-up not too long ago, see if this helps.

http://gmtnation.com/f77/replacing-lower-ball-joints-5284/

 

[6716]

I did a write-up not too long ago, see if this helps.

http://gmtnation.com/f77/replacing-lower-ball-joints-5284/

I saw that, that's a good write up.

I finally got it loose. Usually I have to log in here and whine, then go back out and give it another shot. "But why doesn't it work for meeeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

I almost thought I was going to get all the way through this job without getting a little stuck. Maybe next time.

I put the jack under the LCA and then finally got the Pitman arm puller on it. Getting the puller on it was the big challenge. I think using the jack changed the angle enough to make the puller fit well enough.

Now on the other side the tie rod nut doesn't want to move, so I've got the deep creep on it. I'm calling it a night, should be easy enough to get the rest of that stuff off tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

 

[gmcman]

You shouldn't need to touch the tie rod ends at all. If you mess with them you will need an alignment...you can't eyeball or measure tenths of a degree.

If you are having issues with reach, try turning the steering wheel.

 

[6716]

You shouldn't need to touch the tie rod ends at all. If you mess with them you will need an alignment...you can't eyeball or measure tenths of a degree.

Well the good news is I bought the lifetime alignment service at Firestone, so I can mess up the tie rods all I need to .

In reality, the whole deal here is that I am replacing the upper ball joints BUT I completely sucked at it when I tried with the steering knuckle still attached to the LCA & hub. So I was taking everything off the knuckle so I could pull it out and work on it loose. I hopped onto this thread because the only thing slowing me down getting the knuckle out was getting the lower ball joint out of the knuckle.

When I double checked, the tool I actually used to get the lower ball joint stud out of the steering knuckle was the Tie Rod End Puller from the Advance Auto Parts loaner/rental kit.