bry-an

bj install going badly.... I cant get the stupid ball joint studs out I have cut one off drilled it out everything it wont come out... any ideas would be great, I have broken all my little drill bits Im thinking of just drilling a bigger hole cause I dont know what the is going on.... are these things threaded into the balljoint???

bry-an

hey ideas would be great I dont have the right size drill bit but I think I am gonna make the holes bigger

justinking060310

I am assuming you are just beating on them with a hammer? that doesnt work very often...

you need either:

1. a pickle fork and a BFH, and some luck would help if you choose this route

or

2. goto your local parts store and get a front end puller kit - it will have the tool you need to pop the ball joints out...

bry-an

nono I have the ball joint outta the upper arm, I just cant get the ing studs outta the bal joint to replace with the spacer hardware... its like a bolt in there... is there something about the ball joint I am missing? do I need to take it apart or just pull it outta the way?

justinking060310

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...ntSpacer.shtml

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post50459686

That help any? you shouldnt have to take the ball joint apart, just get it off the arm and then grind, put your spacer in, bolt her up

mt_goat

You need to pound the studs out to be able to use the longer hardware. IIRC, they aren't threaded, just pressed in. Mine came out with a BFH but I put a socket behind the stud head and put a nut on the end of the stud threads and pounded them straight out. I was replacing the ball joints with new ones so maybe that made it easier in my case.

I think this is one of the studs I pounded out:

elripster

Typically, this is done most easily if you leave the ball joint in the upper a-arm so that the original hardware is protruding above the arm. They can then be tapped out or hit hard if necessary.

Frank

ovrrdrive

Sounds like a good time to go buy new aftermarket ball joints... They come stud-less and it's nice to replace stuff like that when its in your hand and accessible anyway. Problem solved and improved handling to boot.

bry-an

hey guys thanks for the replies... wow, well the first side took about 6 hours... and the second took literally 35 minutes grinding and painting included... LOL ya it was definately easier to hit the bolts out before the ball joint was separated from the upper arm, and i am thinking someone should add that to the instructions. I knew it could be done so on the second side I just beat the hell outta it till it came out... now am going to do the alignment although really it looks pretty damn close already, but that should just make it easier. just for those of you wondering I ended up drilling out the old studs as I had cut off both ends with my cutting wheel, heated, pounded(so hard i bent a 3/16 punch) and i broke about 10 little drill bits because the ball joint would spin around everytime the drill bit caught. sigh, well its sitting good now, I will take pics when my cam gets new batteries. big thanks to justinking, frank, ovrrdrive, and goat.... you guys were helpful and its really appreciated . Im glad to know there is someone around when I wanna punch myself in the face.