SloPoke

No, it was 300 here in Tulsa and 175 is I brought em the spindle assemblies so I'm bettin' they'll want more than $40 per side once they tear in to em and see how entailed it is.

I'd say, if you can get an hourly rate from em, a 2 hr minimum should cover it beings that your taking the truck apart and they don't have to. If you at all have the chance to watch em, I'd do it just to make sure they aren't ruining the bearing in the process like the 4WPW in Orlando was doin'. The bearing races MUST be supported when they go to press the hub back in. When they go to pressing the bearing in the spindle (before they press the hub in the bearing) they need to press on the outside race or the entire bearing. Not just on the inner race.

Badmice1

Hey guys - Instead of doing work (at work of course) today, I decided to dig into the Chilton manual to read up in preparation for this project. I'm not too sure if I'm equipped with the right tools to take apart the upper ball joint? The lower ball joint looks fairly simple (4 hex nuts)....

I've only got your standard wrenches & sockets. The Chilton manual is starting to freak me out on how much extra tools I'll need.

...can you guys recommend the essential tools I'll need for this project? Besides the 38mm socket that I need to remove the hub nut, I really don't know what else I need at this point?

Thx,

keisur

uh, seems like we're on a merry-go-round here.

Breaker bar
36mm socket
cheater pipe
large tie rod separator for the upper balljoint like in the pic below
muscle

Badmice1

Sorry man...probably sound like a dumbass. Reading the Chilton manual over and over again is probably driving me nuts.

keisur

yea, chiltons, or more probably a Haynes is what your looking at, is worthless, about all they're good for are torque specs.

Check out this schematic:

Badmice1

Hey Keisur - Gettin' ready to pull this thing out tonight and just a quick question for you.

I noticed that you have 2 pullers in the picture (2 from the right), are those the pitman puller & tie rod end puller?

I went over to Autozone to try to get a loaner ball joint puller, and instead all they have is a presser (see pic). They have both the tie end puller and pitman puller available.



Will this work? Or can I get away with seperating the ball joints with the pitmen?

keisur

yes, they are the pitman and the tie rod puller but come to think of it, you will need a 2-jaw puller for the upper balljoint. The pitman arm puller and the tie rod puller is for the tie rod.

no, that balljoint tool won't work. try to think of whether or not that would fit on the upper balljoint, it won't work to press it out of the control arm, you need a 2 jaw puller like the one in my pic. notice it's broken. it's from Harbor Freight and was 7 bucks for a set of 3. I would suggest using a 2 jaw puller from autozone (I think you can borrow one from them).

sorry, for some reason before I was thinking of the tierod end.

Badmice1

Hey Keisur - Glad I checked because I didn't think that press would have enough clearance in the upper ball joint space either.

Autozone's got 2 & 3 jaw pullers. Any recommendations? I figured since you had the 2 jaw in the pic, that's the right one to go with?

keisur

go with the 2 jaw. I'm not sure the 3 jaw would work because of where the arms have to grab on the control arm.

Badmice1

Will do. Got most of that stuff on-hold @ Autozone. I'll soak the joints with PB Blast tonight and take a crack at it. Thanks again.

keisur

let us know if you need advice from here on out. we can edit the photos with sketching if need be too. good luck and have fun.

Badmice1

Alright...the only thing I have left to do it the lower + upper ball joint. What is the socket size to remove the 3 ball joint nuts? The largest socket I have is 19mm, and it obviously doesn't fit.

Thx

keisur

I'm not sure what size they are. I would guess 21mm. there's only 2 right? 1 tierod and 1 upper BJ nut. But you don't need to pop the tie rod off unless you're replacing the lower balljoint too, I can't remember, are you? I would suggest picking up 21mm and 24mm sockets individually. you'll need a 24mm to change the rear diff, tcase and tranny lubes.

Badmice1

Oh yes...2 ball joints + 1 tie rod end. I think all of them are the same size. I had 21mm in mindl. Guess I'll go check it out. Thx.

keisur

never had a shop do it so I don't know. that sounds good to me though since all they have to do is press out, press out, press in, press in, even though the last press in will be the tricky part, I can't imagine them chargin an arm and a leg for it.

Badmice1

K - I'm not replacing any ball joints. Strictly taking off the knuckle/spindle combo, take it to the shop, have mech press-out & press-in bearing, re-install.

I had assumed that I need to take off both balls joints + tie rod end to remove the knuckle assembly, correct? That is my plan of attack tonight.

keisur

then you only need the 2-jaw puller for the upper balljoint. the tierod end and the lower balljoints don't need to be messed with.

all you have to do is:

1. unclamp brake line from spindle
2. remove hub nut and pop axle out toward the engine
3. remove all 4 bolts under the lower balljoint flange
4. romove upper balljoint nut
5. press upper ball joint out
6. take what falls off the vehicle to the shop

Badmice1

completed steps 1-3 last night.
steps 4 - 6 will be completed after purchase of correct socket size.
will loosen anything else as needed to remove the knuckle assembly.
thx

keisur

okeedokee.

Badmice1

k- got the assembly off. the toughest part was the upper ball joint, but managed through that fairly quick.

now...when it's time to reinstall the upper ball joint, is there anything special I need to do? it was obvious the ball joint's installed pretty tight onto the control arm.

I read some writeup about keeping an eye on the number of threads that sticks out to avoid overtightening it.

Anything else besides that?