F***ing Ball Joints

[Bluespear]

Having finally managed to find some appropriate sized tubing for the "jack-up" installation method I decided to tackle the ball joints today.

I got half way to dismantle & am now stuck.

The hub/knuckle is seized on the balljoint stem.
The balljoint is seized in the lower arm.

Used loads of penetrating fluid, a puller, various levers & pry bars, and hammerered seven colours of sh*t out of both parts for the last hour but neither will budge a mm.

I'm now out of enthusiasm, energy, ideas & patience. So unless someone here has any more sensible options my next will involve some 95 octane & a zippo

 

[swshawaii]

I was in the same predicament using your methods before I gave up and took it to a shop.
They used extreme force with a sledge on a lift. Took him about ten full swings on the
steering knuckle "protrusion" with a puller installed at full tension. It finally popped loose.
No way I could have done it underneath the truck. See post #382 (CDW6212R) Good Luck!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225&page=20

 

[rich uk]

Halfords do a spray called "shock and unlock" which freezes the parts and gets right in there..I just finished my tin

very impressed with it ....undid loads of seized stuff with it # inc upper control arm bolts

other than that option is to heat the bugger up.ie blow lamp

not good when a job goes bad over bank holiday weekend ..had my share of tough jobs..

keep at it and you will be the winner

good luck

 

[jcasey007]

I maybe too late responding but I found with mine I had to use an angle grinder to cut the tappered shaft just below the hub carrier.

you need to cut away with a stanley knife the rubber boot and have a friend hold the hub carrier and you need a metal cutting disk.

once seperated you can punch out the old shaft and press out the old joint

be careful......

jim

 

[bonefish]

All you need is a pickle fork and small sledge hammer.
I just did my upper and lower bj this weekend and had the same problem.
Pickle fork works great.
You just wedge the fork between the ball joint and knuckle(spindle) and drive it in with the sledge. It will pop free.

 

[Bluespear]

One down, one to go !!!!

Thanks for all your replies/advice.
Pickle fork b/j splitter didn't work - in fact I broke it !!

I hate Halfrauds & on won't buy anything there unless absolutely no other option, so I bought some Holts freeze spray stuff from Euro Car Parts for about £5. Needed 3 lots of freeze spray before the b/j budged, & then about an hour of BFH pounding before the b/j & knuckle dropped out.

Also needed freeze spray to free the b/j from the knuckle & a few whacks with the BFH.

Fitting the new (out of the freezer) b/j was almost child's play - jacked into position & lots more BFH pounding on the lower arm.

So guess what I'm doing tomorrow ?!?!?!? and I wonder how long it'll be before the woman 100 yards away in the next street starts shouting " Shut the ###### up! Stop that f*****g banging !" - it was about lunchtime last week.

 

[IZwack]

Do you guys have ball joint presses available in the UK? Cauz this thing can extract and install ball joints in minutes.

 

[rich uk]

glad the job is progressing !!
good luck ..I recon u cracked it now

 

[BIGHVM]

Do you guys have ball joint presses available in the UK? Cauz this thing can extract and install ball joints in minutes.

yea boys, what be a ball joint press then? Sounds like a space age thing.
(you kidding mate- our police still ride horses)!

 

[Bluespear]

glad the job is progressing !!
good luck ..I recon u cracked it now

Thats what I thought, rich .....

..... so full of confidence I cracked on with the left side at the weekend (btw I don't recall anyone mentioning that you have to unbolt & lift the n/s shock to get the driveshaft out of the way - should I be able to compress the shock by hand ?? ) and got the old bj out in under an hour.
New one out of the freezer, lined up, tube under bj, jack under tube, jacked up, bashed bottom arm with hammer ....... nothing happened, bashed some more, no movement.
Removed the jack & tube, checked it was all lined up & tried again.
some time later, still no movement from bj, so took it all apart again to find the bj rubber had split !!! After i finished swearing I realised that the tube I was using must be a fraction too small - inside the split rubber I could see that there is a curved shoulder in the joint - the tube must have rolled off one side of this & dug into the rubber.
I'm now shopping online for a replacement tube & bj (still swearing though !!!)

 

[janolsson]

so took it all apart again to find the bj rubber had split !!! After i finished swearing I realised that the tube I was using must be a fraction too small - inside the split rubber I could see that there is a curved shoulder in the joint - the tube must have rolled off one side of this & dug into the rubber.
I'm now shopping online for a replacement tube & bj (still swearing though !!!)

Its a new bj so no dirt in that split. Just patch it with superglue or tyre puncture repair kit or if the boot on the old one is undamaged you could swap the boots.

A little bit redneck but personally i hate wasting new parts

 

[chrisquelch]

hi
i have a spare new lower ball joint you can have for the cost off the postage
or it can be collected from near portsmouth. cant see how you have damaged the rubber when refitting as the balljoint only requires suport from underneath and downward presure(hitting with a club hammer) on the arm . cheers chris

 

[Bluespear]

Its a new bj so no dirt in that split. Just patch it with superglue or tyre puncture repair kit or if the boot on the old one is undamaged you could swap the boots.

A little bit redneck but personally i hate wasting new parts

Errrrr, I think its a bit beyond glueing - even Blue Peter couldn't fix this one !!

Thanks for the offer Chris, but I ordered one via ebay & its arrived already.

 

[chrisquelch]

ok no problem i can see how you caught the rubber the one i have has a bigger lip to push against. see if you can remove the rubber before fitting and put on when in . cheers chris

 

[Bluespear]

ok no problem i can see how you caught the rubber the one i have has a bigger lip to push against. see if you can remove the rubber before fitting and put on when in . cheers chris

Great tip, Chris. I had no idea the rubber would lift off - I thought it was glued/bonded to the metal casing.

Thanx
gary

 

[gmanpaint]

Not so sure how much shipping would cost, but these tools are the way to go. They also work wonders for all your U-joints in the drive line.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-ball-joint-u-joint-c-frame-press-service-kit-38335.html

For the lower ball joint to knuckle release,.....Simply heating the BJ stud with a propane torch for a couple mins, then a quick tap with a 3 lb mini sledge hammer on the knuckle will release and separate the two.

http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-start-propane-torch-91061.html


Cheers!