DIY Ball Joint Removal/97 Camry 2.2

[97ToyCar]

Hey TN folks,

I could use some help. I noticed today at lunchtime that my driver side BJ is leaking grease at the bottom of the boot...so I tripped down to AZ on my way home, and picked up a Japan-made replacement (whew...not China), and hooray for Zerk fittings! So my question is...can I get the BJ off (haha, very funny without going through a lot of headaches? I could really use a pictorial DIY, found one for the Corolla's, but I don't know how close they are to being the same, although they look similar...have access to 2 post lift and air tools Please assist if possible, I have searched for hours with no luck, and the FSM isn't all that helpful. What tools will I need?

[LynchburgCSI]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=removing+a+camry+ball+joint

Sorry I had to. I love that site. Look over the search results. I'm willing to bet the corolla is also very similar.

[ghettosled]

^ thats funny!

its pretty easy to remove a ball joint on a camry. i believe there is a cotter pin that needs to be removed from the steering knuckle, remove the nut, use a pickle fork or a pry bar to pop the BJ loose. then remove the three bolts holding the BJ to the lower control arm.

on a side note, how are the CV boots? reason i ask is most people wouldnt notice a BJ leaking grease since there isnt much in them. im just checking to make sure some grease from a broken CV boot wasnt flung over there. the typical sign of a bad BJ is a knocking/rattling noise when the car is driven over bumps.

[97ToyCar]

The grease seal on the ball is bad, I checked the CV, it's fine. I could just replace the boot, but the new one has a Zerk, so that's even better, and it will last longer that way. Better to catch it now, rather than later. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I always say.

[73sport]

True = a bad seal will let in water and debris and kill the joint, but yoder parts = long life!

I've used many others manufactures working at the frame shop but IMO the OEM parts even w/out grease fittings last longer than most aftermarket suspension parts.

Case in point are the failed inner rack pivots on my replacement long rack. Didn't even make 50,000 miles. The orginals were good and tight when I swapped the rack at 150,000 miles. I wished I'd kept those!

Seeings how you're replacing the ball joints, the pickle fork is OK. I preffer a swift smack with a hammer to distort the casting to drop the interference fit ball stud. Using pickle forks on good joints will lead to joint failure for the very reason you are replacing yours. A tear in the boot.

[97ToyCar]

So I take it that you might prefer a two jaw puller? Maybe that might work better, I even might be able to press the ball joint back into the knuckle that way too. I will try smacking the casting first to see if that will drop it instead. Lots of Deep Creep, and a good cleaning of the inside knuckle surface and a bit of sandpaper, then some high temp grease to ease it all back into place, correct? Or would all this be too much?

[73sport]

Too much! but only because pullers don't fit everything and hammers do!

Toyo was kind to make the lower ball joint a bolt on. Lots of cars press the ball right into the arm and some weld it in. Thus the only way to seperate the two for something like an axle replacement is to seperate the stud from the knuckle (luckly we can unbolt the housing from the arm). In MOST cases we're talking about re-using the ball joint so a pickle fork is not a good choice.

Leave the ball joint bolted to the arm. Loosen the nut leaving it hanging on the threads. With a 16 to 20 once hammer, whack the knuckle where the stud goes through. Do not whack the stud or nut! It needs a very swift crack. Then pull it down to see if its loose.
Remove the nut, remove the bolts, remove the joint. No need for sand paper, lube, pullers, grease. . .