Lower ball joint stuck suggestions please..

[LEEVON]

I am trying to remove my coil springs because my truck has a 2" lean and the passenger side lower control arm won't budge. I've done this before with ease many times, but this one is being a PITA!

I've got the truck on jackstands, backed the castle nut off the ball joint, placed jack under LCA and lowered but it's stuck. Used pickle fork, big hammer, cuss words, nothing will budge it. I also tried jacking the UCA to let the spring pressure push the ball joint out but no joy.

Anybody have this happen, Any suggestions?

[Longhorn Man]

I've had to put a small bottle jack in there once in a road side repair (spindle replacement).

[jwn1975]

Ive had to beat the SH&T out of mine. Bigger hammer. may use slight heat as well.

[PanelDeland]

I beat on one side of mine for about 3 hours over a 4 day period before it finally came loose.Got the lower loose then had another 1 to 1 1/2 hours in the upper.The other side I hit twice and both popped loose.Use the biggest hammer you can hit accurately with.

[LEEVON]

I think I'm gonna try the bottle jack trick tomorrow...

[dieselarmy13]

Make that puppy cry uncle with a little heat! PB Blaster never hurts, either. Not at the same time, though!

[Painter D]

If you have access to an air hammer you might try that ,with a ball joint seperator end on it

[leddzepp]

I used a C-Clamp press from harbor freight tools to get mine out. Beating on it more or using a picklefork will not work, it needs to be pressed out. The bottlejack trick will work as well.

[70GMCer]

All above ideas......& use "Bigger Cuss Words".......

[Longhorn Man]

ledzep... he's trying to seperate the ball joint from the spindle.

[LONGHAIR]

While it is hard to get swinging space in there.....I find the best way for a really stubborn one is the "double hammer". You 2 "fairly big" hammers, nothing crazy, you still have to swing one of them.
What you do is have someone else hold one of the hammers (preferably the bigger one) against the side of the spindle next to the hole where the tapered shaft comes through. Then you swing the other hammer and hit the opposite side, "smashing" into the sides of the "hole".
This is not the right spindle, but the idea is the same.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

While it is hard to get swinging space in there.....I find the best way for a really stubborn one is the "double hammer". You 2 "fairly big" hammers, nothing crazy, you still have to swing one of them.
What you do is have someone else hold one of the hammers (preferably the bigger one) against the side of the spindle next to the hole where the tapered shaft comes through. Then you swing the other hammer and hit the opposite side, "smashing" into the sides of the "hole".
This is not the right spindle, but the idea is the same.

I've also had good luck just hitting it there with a hammer, they seem to just pop out. I'm going to try the double hammer idea next time! Those forks just seems to destroy the boots etc.
s/t

[LONGHAIR]

Oh yeah, I am very against the stupid fork thing. They destroy the boots, how could they not?

[1967C20]

This is what I did on mine. I took apart a heavy duty brake drum puller, put a nut between the screw of the puller and the ball joint stud, and turned it using an impact gun. Heat, penetrating oil, whacking with a small sledge, and turning the puller with the impact gun eventually broke it loose. Resistance is futile!

[rick0312]

I had a similar problem when I was removing my outer tie rods. The thing was just frozen in there. I tried everything...PB blaster, BFH, Pickle fork and heat. I eventually had to cut it off and drill out what was left behind. I just took my time and kept increasing in drill bit size until i cleaned the hole out. Be carefull because the ball joint hole is tapered just like the tie rod.

[Mondo]

Finally took the lower A arm off the truck (with spindle still on) and took it to a shop. I didn't ask how they did it, wasn't sure I wanted to know...

[leddzepp]

If removing the ball joint from the spindle, Longhairs method is the way to go. I was talking about removing the ball joint from the LCA.

[Shane]

The perfect tool for this job ... less than $10 and it's from Harbor Freight too

[lowrollin70gmc]

I use a big 'ol bolt, nut and socket to fashion a makeshift ball joint press. Hold the bolt head with one wrench, and turn the nut with the other and you have yourself a removed BJ. It smashed my knuckles when she broke free, but the boot stayed intact and all that jazz.

Some paint for ya'll (flip for upper ball joint):

[PanelDeland]

Shane, that looks just like my favorite Ball joint tool!!!Came from the same place too.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by Shane

The perfect tool for this job ... less than $10 and it's from Harbor Freight too

yeah, yeah...I'm the king of BFH and this one won't budge. I ended up just popping the spindle from the UCA's.

[leddzepp]

The easiest way to remove/install coil springs is to use a spring compressor. Then you do not need to mess with the spindles and ball joints.

[Stoney]

Put the wheel back on and slowly let the truck down, the weight of the truck will break it loose.

[Shane]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

The easiest way to remove/install coil springs is to use a spring compressor. Then you do not need to mess with the spindles and ball joints.

So how are you gonna get the compressed spring out of the pocket if you "don't mess with the spindles or ball joints" ???

[jrb71c20]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

The easiest way to remove/install coil springs is to use a spring compressor. Then you do not need to mess with the spindles and ball joints.

Originally Posted by Shane

So how are you gonna get the compressed spring out of the pocket if you "don't mess with the spindles or ball joints" ???

Magic...sheesh Shane where you been man, a cave?...