Lower Ball Joint Replacement

[alpendubber]

Well, it's my turn to replace the LBJ's and repack the wheel bearings.

I searched and followed the instructions on Cruisermoms thread opting for the lower control arm method of being left on the truck.

I got all parts and tools lined up. Rented the ball joint press from Autozone. Everything came apart without a hitch.

Reassembly is not going as smooth. The press sleeves and drive cup will not work. The drive cup does not allow for the large diameter of the ball joint to press into the arm. It's flush with the top of the ball joint just pressing against itself.

I went to Home Depot and got the GRC 2" nipple which fits perfectly compared to the sleeve that came in the rental kit. On the topside I'm going to use a cut down 2" GRC coupling.

I'll post up tomorrow with updates.

MxnDrnks, can you chime in with your method after your removal pic. Looks like the same rental tool kit. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[alpendubber]

So I ended up cutting that 2" nipple down. I cut about 1/2" off of one end. Kept the other end untouched as it will be snug against the boot and shoulder of the LBJ. I used the small piece I cut off as a shim on top. Worked perfectly. In fact it only took about 5 minutes to do the other side. A big thanks to Cruisermom for posting up that idea. Anyway, here's some pics.

Also a huge thanks to Bluecruiser for sending me FSM pages!!

 

[petrotk40]

Would this be possible to do without removing the whole knuckle? Could you unbolt the bottom of the knuckle, drop the LCA to its lowest and use a ratchet strap or similar to raise the UCA, knuckle and axle? Would this give enough clearance front he axle to get the c clamp in there?

 

[mattafact]

Where did you get the 555 ball joints?

 

[petrotk40]

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...N-jem8dZ8oxla?itemIdentifier=926677_376835_0_

I think the Raybestos and ACDelco parts on RockAuto are also 555

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Did anyone else's rust really fast? My $25 ebay sourced upper ball joints look great. I like the grease zerk also. These replacement lowers flash rusted immediately.

 

[kennyao30]

Did anyone else's rust really fast? My $25 ebay sourced upper ball joints look great. I like the grease zerk also. These replacement lowers flash rusted immediately.

mine rusted much faster than I would have expected, I've replaced them twice... thanks to Autozone's lifetime guarantee.

 

[petrotk40]

Tried to tackle this yesterday, getting the knuckle unseated from the ball joints was a pain. Upper one needed a Pittman arm puller, lower is used a wedged fork and hammer and banged on it for a good 20 minutes. Pressing the joint out was very simple and took 2 minutes. Getting the new joint back in has been very frustrating. Long story short, the press tool kit from autozone with only 3 cups will not get the job done. The c arm doesn't open wide enough to accommodate a cup on top and bottom. I used a hole saw and tried using a 2x4 but it didn't last long enough for me to get the joint fully seated. I'm headed to advance auto parts to get their kit which has probably a dozen cup options.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Tried to tackle this yesterday, getting the knuckle unseated from the ball joints was a pain. Upper one needed a Pittman arm puller, lower is used a wedged fork and hammer and banged on it for a good 20 minutes. Pressing the joint out was very simple and took 2 minutes. Getting the new joint back in has been very frustrating. Long story short, the press tool kit from autozone with only 3 cups will not get the job done. The c arm doesn't open wide enough to accommodate a cup on top and bottom. I used a hole saw and tried using a 2x4 but it didn't last long enough for me to get the joint fully seated. I'm headed to advance auto parts to get their kit which has probably a dozen cup options.

That's what happened to me also. Take the ball joint to Home Depot and buy a coupling that's the right diameter for the shoulder.

Press the ball joint in halfway. Then switch the cup configuration to push it in the rest of the way. I almost sold the truck part way through doing this job last time. I still need to do the DS. Hopefully I'll remember my own advice.

The upper ball joint is way easier. Put you have to remove the UCA to get at it. I did mine on the ground while standing on the arm.

 

[petrotk40]

When I tackle the passenger side, I bet it takes 2hrs tops. I hope

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

When I tackle the passenger side, I bet it takes 2hrs tops. I hope

Agreed. The PS upper ball joint, only took an hour. Did it on my way home from work one day.

 

[98100Crusher]

Would this be possible to do without removing the whole knuckle? Could you unbolt the bottom of the knuckle, drop the LCA to its lowest and use a ratchet strap or similar to raise the UCA, knuckle and axle? Would this give enough clearance front he axle to get the c clamp in there?

As far as I can tell, the answer is no since there's not enough clearance to even take the knuckle off. The ball joint stud is just a mm or two too long to allow the separation. Probably a good design in that even if the castle nut loosens somehow the bottom can't fully separate easily.

 

[Kofoed]

The Autozone press kit lacks the right sleeve for pressing in the ball joint. I used a 2" pipe nipple (a close nipple and the 2 1/2" length) That and some finagling got it. Make sure the joint is started properly before you start cranking down on the clamp.


You need to remove the knuckle. I would consider buying, at a minimum all the seals and gaskets for the hub and knuckle. If you are going to replace the bearing, also kit the clip kit......or just buy the whole kit from cruiseroutfitters.