Ball Joint Removal

[curtisz]

Hello

I have been searching over the forum, but I haven't really seen anyone list an issue with pulling a ball joint.

The project: I am replacing the lower control arms (both sides) and the cv halfshaft on the driver side (torn boot).

Per the Haynes manual, we removed the cotter pin on the ball joint bolt and turned the nut a few times. We put a two jaw puller onto the arm and turned, breaking the two jaw puller.

We then attempted to remove the ball joint from the top side, so we loosened the two top bolts, and we have unsuccessfully attempted to pry the ball joint from the steering knuckle.

I really need to get this job done before Monday. I am starting a new job, and I cannot be late/absent for my first day.

Please feel free to post comments.

Thanks in advance!

Curtis

[curtisz]

Well, with the two bolts pulled for the ball joint to steering knuckle, my assistant was able to put a breaker bar on the nut for the sway bar to control arm nut and push down. This separated the ball joint from the steering knuckle and allowed us to remove the cv halfshaft from the hub.

Anyway, I hope at least this information may help, but I feel that we might have hurt ourselves in removing the control arm, because we did not loosen the sway bar to control arm nut yet.

Thanks

Curtis

[Doctor J]

With contol arm out of the car, place 3/4 inch old socket head on the stud nut ( the nut must be losened but not removed), apply penetration oil on the stud, then strike the socket with 5 lb sledge while swinging the arm toward the sledge. The arm and the sledge must move agaist each other, so it will make impact more effective. I knocked the joint out after three not very powerfull impacts.You do not need to strike fast or hard, the blow must be square and "dead".
In the lab I measured the force requred to pull the stud out of arm, and it measured more then 20 tons required. The puller is able to deliver about 5 tons, then it breaks.
It is a very good ideato put some mp grease on the stud before inserting it into the arm's hole so it will not "weld" itself to it.

[white90dx]

If you are replacing the whole lower control arm, buy the pre-loaded ones (with ball joints). They are cheap on eBay, but available in your local auto parts store.

I've been successful with a 3-jaw puller with some cursing and effort, even on my 320k mile Camry. I like the idea of the sledge though - that would probably be able to do good job.

Unbolt the swaybar to chassis mounts to make removing the ball joint from the knuckle possible by yourself. Otherwise, the swaybar/control arms/bushings put upward pressure on the knuckle that is hard to overcome. At least they don't weld together! I've been able to put the front suspension back together by myself with polyurethane bushings and a upgraded (stiffer) front swaybar by careful order of operations - it's a workout on the garage floor though!

-Charlie

[curtisz]

As far as the control arms, I had picked up Nuron's old control arms and replaced the bushings in them with little difficulty.

As far as the project goes, we are busy trying to remove one of the nuts on the inner cv halfshaft that rounded itself out.

The nut extractors are doing not good, so we are probably going to break down and pick up a cold chisel to bust the nut off.

Quite a fun experience! Thanks for all the advice, at least it will be helpful for future projects!

Thanks

Curtis

[curtisz]

Well, I have been driving my Camry now for a little over a month now with the "new" control arms in place. I figured I could let everyone know how the car is doing.

To begin with... I was getting a horrible clanging from the front end on occassion when I would accelerate/decelerate. The clanging also presented itself occassionly when I hit a bump/hole in the road. There was also a noticeable lurch with the car when it was maintaining speed. I also noticed that when the vehicle was driven by someone else the front tires would move backward in the wheel well when the car was taking off. Also, when I lifted the car, I had to lift it quite high to get the front tires off the ground. I also noticed that when the car was lifted; the control arm sagged on the sway bar. I also had extreme wear on the inner edge of my front tires and the outer edge of my rear tires.

I decided that I would change the bushings on the control arms to attempt to remedy at least some of these issues. I obtained Nuron's old set of control arms (many thanks!). I bought some 2-piece polyurethene bushings from .com. I cleaned up the "new" control arms, painted them with rustoleum, and pressed in the polyurethene bushings. I also noticed that my driver side cv axle had a torn boot, so I decided to replace that cv axle. I also, at the last minute, decided that I should probably replace the ball joints as well (partly because they were stuck to the old control arms).

The repair went fairly well. I had an issue removing the ball joints from the steering knuckle (hence the beginning of this thread). I also FUBARed one of the nuts that hold the cv axle in place.

I have noticed a lot of improvement since I changed these parts out. The front of the vehicle does not seem to sag as much. The suspension seems more firm. I am also getting 33 to 34 MPG when I used to only get 28 to 30 MPG. I still need to get a nut to replace the one I busted up for the CV axle (5 out of 6 currently in place). I need a new set of tires and alignment (planned for next week), and I found I ought to replace the passenger CV axle (trying to plan before the alignment, maybe I'll stick with tires and due CV and alignement the following week). I noticed the boot was torn on that axle during my repairs. I just did not have the money to repair it.

The only real problem it did not fix is a lurch that I have when I am maintaining speed (seems more prevelant in third). I have sometimes noticed that when I take off from a start that I can hear/feel the passenger side cv axle engage roughly (like loose-ness in the joint?). I do not hear the tell-tale popping in turning, though. Like I mentioned, I do plan on replacing that axle in a week or two. I hope this will help with this issue, but I am not holding my breath.