Lower and Upper Ball Joint R & R

[Rileysowner]

I was looking at my front end while I was removing the oil cooler lines, and found some wear in various locations on tie rod end, maybe idlers and ball joints although they may be good I was tired by the time I got to them. It is the ball joints I have specific questions about, although advice on all the rest would be good as all. As I was reading on how to do the ball joints (both upper and lower) they mention various special tools to do them. In fact with the lower the suggestion was to take it somewhere to have someone remove the old one and press in the new one.

What I am looking for is how to instruction on it, and what sort of tools I should consider getting to help with this. I noticed haynes uses a 2 jaw puller for many things, but has some odd suggestions on a home made tool for removing the upper ball joints.

[skippy]

go to one of your local auto stores that rent tools or like we have here an A to Z rental store & rent a ball joint press . its just basicly a big C clamp with fittings for the joints . the upper ball joints just bolts in , but you might have to grind off the rivits on the old joint if its never been replaced before . its not really a hard job just a little time consuming .

with the ball joint press you just set it up tighten it down smack with a hammer to get it started moving & repeat the process till it its out , then press the new one in after you clean up the hole where the joint fits into .

i don't have any pics of the process but somebody here might .

[Rileysowner]

Pics would be appreciated. I will probably get to it next week, but pics and any other help in doing it would be appreciated.

[97CargoCrawler]

I've got pix. Looky here:

http://www.astrosafarivans.org/bb2/view ... =12&t=2426

I used a Pitman arm puller to separate the spindle from the lower BJ and used a borrowed BJ press from a local Kragen to press the BJ out of the arm and put the new one in. It's pretty easy, but you will need a long leverage bar for tightening the BJ press. Also line the arm and BJ with some grease to help ease the new one in. Make sure it goes in perfectly straight. If while cranking the press you notice it gets cocked, stop, pull it out and start over.

Check out the link for more details, but here are some pix from it for the lazy people:

Removing lower BJ from arm:


Using the press to get the old BJ out of the arm:


You'll definitely need a breaker bar of some sort. I used my jack handle:


And it's out!


Figure out what coupler to use to install (it comes with many sizes) grease up that hole and stuff it in:


If it gets very slightly cocked don't worry about it, it will level out:


As far as it will go, and perfectly flush:


See the link for an excellent procedure for the upper BJ's.

Hope this helps!

Jack

[LaGrasta]

fantastic images and how-to. I have yet to do this, but when I do, I'll be on your thread. Thank you!

[cd0156]

Just want to make sure you are talking about the RWD in your signature... An AWD requires a special tool to unload the torsion bars.. If it is 2wd then you need not worry about that..

Also.. as Skippy said, go rent the press.. Here Advance Auto charges $150 to use it, and you get the $150 back in full when you are done.. So.. it is free. And worth it. Every penny. I guess what I am trying to say is... Do NOT look at this and say "Oh, I can just knock em out with a hammer".. it wont happen, at least not in the first few hours.. The press makes it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier!

[Rileysowner]

Yes, mine is a RWD. Yes, I am planning on using the tool to press it out and the new one in. I believe Canadian Tire has a loaner program where you pay the value of the tool and get it back when you return it. I still have to get the parts, and since I am going the brakes at the same time, I will have lots to do, but at least the rotor will be out of the way. I am expecting I won't be getting to it until two weeks from now because I will have to order the parts, and next week it forecast to be very cold. If it isn't I will do it then.

I am also expecting that this will take a while, so I will be out of a van for that time.

[Smiliesafari]

While you're at it.............take a look at your control arm bushings. If they're bad the ball joint job is a waste of time.

[Rileysowner]

Would it be worth replacing them anyway since I am in there? In other words, are they relatively inexpensive?

[Rileysowner]

I have noticed as I was doing my reading on doing this, that a jack should be used under the control arm to support it. I was wondering what sort of jack people use. I would not want to have my nice jack under the van over night if it takes that long, so was considering getting a small bottle jack maybe 2 ton. Of course it might just be easier to remove the control arm, but I would guess there are other things I have not considered that I would need to do if I did that.

[Smiliesafari]

If the control arm bushings are still good then leave them. There's no middle ground with them. They're either good or bad. You absolutely need to support the lower control arms with a good jack. If you don't you could be in for some serious injury or death. Before you install the ball joint, clean the bore in the control arm and add a little grease or anti seize to the bore and the ball joint. It will help prevent galling of either piece.

[Rileysowner]

So would a bottle jack work? I ask because it would give more space to work around than the floor jack, not to mention it is less visible in the front drive than the floor jack would be.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Yeah a bottle jack would work. You could also use a block of wood under the control arm for night time sitting.

[Rileysowner]

Thanks Dean. I figured it would, but prefer asking first.

Another question, how do I know if the control arm bushings are bad? Will it be obvious?

[cd0156]

Not to sound like a killjoy or anything, but jacks are for lifting, jack STANDS are for holding overnight..

That said, I used jackstands under both lower control arms so the whole front end was up and I could do both sides at once.. However, if you are doing your lower ball joints and arm bushings then you want to put the stands under the frame b/c you will be removing the lower arms to do so and the stands will do you no good being there.. With a 2wd you may need to get a spring compressor to remove your front springs, but not sure.. Never messed with a 2wd Astro in that way before. Anyone know if they unload when the suspension droops or do you need the compressor?