colo88lxi
09-19-2005, 09:43 PM
I recently had to replace my half shaft for the third time and in the process, I managed to screw up the lower ball joint. Being basically lazy, I didn’t want to remove the entire knuckle to replace it so I came up with an idea to replace it on the car that actually worked! This is a basic outline of the procedure.
1) Loosen the lug nuts & the axle spindle nut .
2) Jack up the front of the car
3) Drain the transmission fluid
4) Remove the damper fork
5) Remove the castle nut and separate the lower arm from the lower ball joint. (I have found a pitman arm puller to be the best tool for this! You can rent it from Autozone Part# 27016)
6) Remove the axle spindle nut and rotate the Disc/Caliper/Bearing assembly off the end of the half shaft. (If you aren’t removing the half shaft, you may want to support it with a piece of wire! I also found it helpful to support the Disc assembly with a second jack while I worked on it)
7) Remove the circlip from ball joint.
8) Using a 3” two-arm puller, hook the arms on the knuckle (being careful not to catch to top of the ball joint) and the end of the screw shaft to the threaded end of the ball joint. Use the castle nut to keep the screw shaft centered on the threaded end of the ball joint. As you tighten the screw shaft, try to keep it pulled toward what would be the outside edge of the disc assembly to help keep the arms in place.
9) With any luck, you should be able to press the ball joint out of the knuckle!
10) If you have managed to get out the old ball joint, place the new ball joint in position after applying a little grease to the outside edge of the ball joint and the inner part of the knuckle.
11) Using a 2” two-arm puller, place the arms on the knuckle and the screw shaft on top of the ball joint. This should be in the opposite position as when you pressed the old one out. Since my 2” puller had a pointed pivot point, I use a large nut on top of the ball joint to keep from driving point into the top of the ball joint. Tighten the screw shaft until the ball joint is properly seated.
12) Install the circlip on the ball joint.
13) Rotate the Disc assembly back on the half shaft and install the axle spindle nut.
14) Reinstall lower ball joint into lower arm and torque to 40 lb-ft. Install cotter key.
15) Reinstall the damper fork. (Top pinch bolt 32 lb-ft, bottom bolt 47 lb-ft)
16) Reinstall wheel and lug nuts.
17) Lower car.
18) Tighten lug nuts.
19) Tighten spindle nut to 134 lb-ft and bend in edge to divot.
20) Refill Transmission.
This might not work for everybody as the car I did it on was a relative low miles/rust free vehicle (heck, I may have been extremely lucky!). I did find it easier to press the ball joint out of the knuckle that it was to get it separated from the lower arm! You will need both the 2” & 3” two-arm puller. The 2” is too small the drive out the ball joint and the 3” is too large to clear the upper part of the knuckle when you drive it back in. Even using the 2” puller, I had to use an open end wrench to tighten it down since I couldn’t get anything over the end of the screw shaft!
1) Loosen the lug nuts & the axle spindle nut .
2) Jack up the front of the car
3) Drain the transmission fluid
4) Remove the damper fork
5) Remove the castle nut and separate the lower arm from the lower ball joint. (I have found a pitman arm puller to be the best tool for this! You can rent it from Autozone Part# 27016)
6) Remove the axle spindle nut and rotate the Disc/Caliper/Bearing assembly off the end of the half shaft. (If you aren’t removing the half shaft, you may want to support it with a piece of wire! I also found it helpful to support the Disc assembly with a second jack while I worked on it)
7) Remove the circlip from ball joint.
8) Using a 3” two-arm puller, hook the arms on the knuckle (being careful not to catch to top of the ball joint) and the end of the screw shaft to the threaded end of the ball joint. Use the castle nut to keep the screw shaft centered on the threaded end of the ball joint. As you tighten the screw shaft, try to keep it pulled toward what would be the outside edge of the disc assembly to help keep the arms in place.
9) With any luck, you should be able to press the ball joint out of the knuckle!
10) If you have managed to get out the old ball joint, place the new ball joint in position after applying a little grease to the outside edge of the ball joint and the inner part of the knuckle.
11) Using a 2” two-arm puller, place the arms on the knuckle and the screw shaft on top of the ball joint. This should be in the opposite position as when you pressed the old one out. Since my 2” puller had a pointed pivot point, I use a large nut on top of the ball joint to keep from driving point into the top of the ball joint. Tighten the screw shaft until the ball joint is properly seated.
12) Install the circlip on the ball joint.
13) Rotate the Disc assembly back on the half shaft and install the axle spindle nut.
14) Reinstall lower ball joint into lower arm and torque to 40 lb-ft. Install cotter key.
15) Reinstall the damper fork. (Top pinch bolt 32 lb-ft, bottom bolt 47 lb-ft)
16) Reinstall wheel and lug nuts.
17) Lower car.
18) Tighten lug nuts.
19) Tighten spindle nut to 134 lb-ft and bend in edge to divot.
20) Refill Transmission.
This might not work for everybody as the car I did it on was a relative low miles/rust free vehicle (heck, I may have been extremely lucky!). I did find it easier to press the ball joint out of the knuckle that it was to get it separated from the lower arm! You will need both the 2” & 3” two-arm puller. The 2” is too small the drive out the ball joint and the 3” is too large to clear the upper part of the knuckle when you drive it back in. Even using the 2” puller, I had to use an open end wrench to tighten it down since I couldn’t get anything over the end of the screw shaft!