Cheap Drop HELP!

[shawno72]

Originally Posted by shawno72

It is not a very hard job. Should only need a jack some jack stands a big hammer and I believe a 3/4 wrench or a crescent for the lower ball joint. Oh yeah and a lug wrench to take off the front wheels. Jack up front of truck and put jack stands under frame rails to let the front suspension hang. Remove wheels. Place jack under lower ball joint with about a 1/2" space. Loosen lbj nut bout half way. Hit the side of the spindle where the lbj goes through with a bid hammer. Note DO NOT HIT BALL JOINT ITSELF ONLY HIT THE SPINDLE till it pops free. Now jack up jack to support lower control arm and remove lbj nut. Lower down control arm and remove spring. Cut exactly one full coil off the bottom of the spring and reinstall. Make sure you cut the same amount off both springs to keep it level. One full coil should give you aprox 2". 1 1/2 coils =3". Do not go any more than 1 1/2 coils.
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Originally Posted by lolife99

Are you using spring pressure to help separate the ball joints?

Lolife is right. Let the spring pressure do the work and all you should have to do is swing hard with a good aim.

[slick copper]

I don't know guys. Maybe I've been doing it wrong this whole time. But they are the original ball joints. I've been using a ball joint fork and hitting it with a sledge. And getting nowhere fast. Someone post a pic of where exactly to hit the spindle with the sledge. Don't wanna screw it up. I'm on the passenger side now btw. But at least I am using spring pressure. Doing that right at least!

[WAAF]

on the lower b/j like they said above.. loosen the cas nut a few turns but not off..
with a jack under the lower control arm but not touching it..
hit the spindle where the ball joint stud is passing through the spindle. even up where they salt the roads, and rust is crazy.. a few raps of the 4lb hammer, and it pops..then put the jack under the control arm so it holds it up. take nut off and you are there..
think you are having issue because the joint can't pop because you have the jack holding the control arm up(and b/joint) or you are not hitting the spindle with enough heat behind the swing, for fear of breaking something..
good luck.. first time I had to replace a ball joint I did the same, was like WTF.. dad came over and said you do it like this.. took the hammer and with one good whack. pop..
he's reply to me, hit it like you have a few,( few being balls) lol
don't forget to grease everything while you are under there.. these trucks have a zillion zerk fittings..

[WAAF]

oh, and when letting the control arm down, to get the spring out. I always chain the spring to something.. they can come fly'n out.. (not fun, change of shorts moment)
the chain limits just how far it can go.. if it try's. it's a good practice to get into.. even if the springs in these trucks don't have that much force left when dropping the control arm..

[lolife99]

When I do this job,... I am normally installing drop spindles.
I disconnect the outer tie rod from the spindle.
This allows the spindle to cycle to the left and right "farther" than when the outer tie rod is connected.
Just like said above,... I whack the front and back side of the spindle,... on the sides,... in the lower ball joint area,... until it "pops" loose.

The lower ball joint cotter pin is removed and the nut is bakced off a couple turns.
All the coil spring pressure has to be pushing on the lower a-arm.

[slick copper]

Guys I guess it's been me not being able to get to it good due to the tie rod. But thanks for all the tips and explaining to me. I have been a little cautious, but I've also definately put my "balls" into it with the ball joint fork and sledge. Just didn't work too well. Got this week off, hope to get out there and get that other side! On the other hand (or foot in this case) I was playing around with my neices with their new Nerf basketball set and slid into a door frame and broke one of my toes. Yeah we were really getting into it. But I can still hobble around. Hope to get to in the next couple days. So tire of seeing the truck up on stands.

[mud.man.rj]

Truck stance looks way better, easy to get a 2" drop in front just remove front coils cut 1 coil off with a chop saw, not a torch and reinstall and you will have a 2" drop for free.

[slick copper]

Yup. That's what I'm working on.

[shawno72]

I have faith in you Ray. Your perseverance will pay off. Our trucks are old and sometimes, often, will fight you every step of the way. Sometimes when the truck has me beat I step away from it for a while and when I come back to it I see the solution from a totally different angle. When you sledge it work on a good aim and a very hard hit instead of a series of fast whacks with less force. All it takes is one solid hit in the righ spot and it will pop.
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[oldblue1968chevy]

Yeah I let my gf's dad do it (he could really swing that BFH) just gotta hit it right

these ol trucks will fight the whole way they've been rusted together for 40 years lol

[slick copper]

She's still singin' the same ole song. Can't get that thing to break free for nothin'!!!! Somebody come up here and show me how to swing that hammer! One of these years.....

[shawno72]

try it like this
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[slick copper]

HA HA HAAA!!! Thanks for the help buddy! Any other bright advice out there?

[oldblue1968chevy]

What is it a BJ? Smack the spindle with a bfh and put another bfh held by a friend on the other side

did you try a pickle fork?

i got mine with a 6ft pry bar, some heat (oxy acetalyne torch) would work good too

[tubbedII]

I put a little added pressure on mine by jacking up the spindle (not the control arm) before beating on it. I think your problem is still the hammer not being heavy enough...at least the axe/sledge I have doesn't compare to my stubby 8 lb sledge. I too had the same problems as you and all I needed was a bigger hammer. Just be sure that you are only backing off the nut a few threads.

I hate saying this, but I would think you'd benefit from replacing those bj's too since you mentioned the top one spun.

[slick copper]

Originally Posted by tubbedII

I put a little added pressure on mine by jacking up the spindle (not the control arm) before beating on it. I think your problem is still the hammer not being heavy enough...at least the axe/sledge I have doesn't compare to my stubby 8 lb sledge. I too had the same problems as you and all I needed was a bigger hammer. Just be sure that you are only backing off the nut a few threads.

I hate saying this, but I would think you'd benefit from replacing those bj's too since you mentioned the top one spun.

Thanks. Gonna get me a torch, new ball joint fork, and bigger hammer. Surely between those I'll get it next time. Weather's crappy right now, so I'll have to wait till it gets better to reattempt. As far as the ball joints they do and will get replaced, but later. Just wanted to get the look I wanted cheaply to be sure that's how I'm going to want it. The tranny is busted right now so can't drive it. Just doing some things that don't cost too much till I can get it rebuilt. Then we're gonna build our house with my garage so I can go through and rebuild from ground up.
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[shawno72]

A garage for a frame off is definately gotta be at the top of the list. Careful with the torch, heating up those balljoints and the spindle can lead to failure. You should be able to get those balljoints separated with heating up your suspension components.
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[lolife99]

I understand your pain.
I've removed spindles MANY, many times.
But on my blazer,... it just wasn't going to budge.
Since I was adding drop spindles and new balljoints,... I cut them off.
(just like everything on my blazer suspension. Rusted solid)

Try the BIG hammer first.

[slick copper]

Yep definately gonna go with the BFH first. We'll see. I'll definately post something when I get there. Thanks for all the input guys. Good to know you got someone out there cheering ya on.
Yep can't wait to get to be like the big boys and really tear into this thing, get everything working properly, and get it all exactly the way I want it.

[PanelDeland]

Here's a good link to BJ/spindle replacement

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ht=Ball+joints

[slick copper]

Originally Posted by PanelDeland

Here's a good link to BJ/spindle replacement

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ht=Ball+joints

Thanks man! Very helpful visual!

[sir_talk_alot]

so any progress? im fixing to do the same thing. i was gonna buy drop coils for the rear and cut my fronts, but i do have a good set of jeep springs...wondering if i should use them. id like to see what your truck looks like with the front cut one full coil.

[slick copper]

May be a while. My new plan is get a air hammer w/balljoint fork and knock that sucker loose.

As far as the rear springs. The chevelle/jeep springs are very soft and even with new shocks make the rear end very springy/soft. I would definately recomend getting actual drop springs for the rear. I just went this way to see if I like the look.

The front (if I ever get it done) I believe cutting a coil is a pretty good and cheap way of getting drop.

[slick copper]

Copper is on the ground! The air hammer did the trick! Glad to have him sitting back on all four again. The rear still sits lower though. Probably by about an inch. I think I'm gonna grab the stock (not heavy duty) springs out of the parts truck I got and see how that looks with stock shocks (not the coil-overs). Also gonna get the fronts off of the parts truck because I'm eventually gonna put four-wheel disc brakes on it and the spindles will be 2 1/2" drop. Which will be all the drop I need. Took a pic or two so you could see what I mean. I guess the Chevelle springs are just too soft.

[shawno72]

Glad to see you got it.
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