Hi,

I while back I installed my suspention and body lift. They only thing I couldnt do was to remove the upper ball joint to install my ats a-arms. In trying, I ended up cutting the boots and had to buy new ball joints. I then brought it to 4wheel parts here in San Jose, CA to have them put on the ats. They couldnt do it because they said the ats where 3/8 in. too wide. I am now going to attempt to install them again myself and would like to know if it is possible to remove the upper ball joints without tearing the boots. Any info is appreciated. Sorry so long..Acid

 

If only I can picture what you are trying to explain. When you remove ball joints a lot of people have different ways of doing it. Proper way is to use a two or three jaw puller (you'll see which one fits better) and make sure the end of the puller is on the nut (in otherwords, screw the castle nut in to where it is slightly flush with the end of the stud of the ball joint) and make sure the puller pushes on the nut, not the stud (I just ruined a ball joint last weekend doing that). So from what i am gathering you had to have the teeth of the puller dig into the boot and rip it open? All I can say is try to get the teeth underneath the boot. In class, some classmates banged on the side of the housing of the control arm with a hammer and the joint just sort of popped out, is another method.

 

I use a pickle fork ( I thinks thats the name) to try and remove the ball joint because the three armed puller didnt budge the ball joint. So I am wondering how to take it off without injuring the boot since the joints are new. Maybe I will try the puller again since the ball joints are 6 months old and perhaps might be easier to loosen because of it. Thanks--Acid

 

Ah that's another idea, I know that Autozone rents a ball-joint fork that doesn't quite have the sharp edges as a regular pickle fork, plus tool rental from Autozone is free (of course if you return the tool). Whatever you do though, don't bang on the stud with a hammer, you'll definitly damage the joint and need a new one.

You could always try both at the same time, push up a bit with the jaw puller and use the ball-joint fork.

 

i'll try that. Like I said, hopefully these new ball joints will be easier to take off. Last time when I tried the puller, I couldnt keep it on because the ball joint would budge. I will try both methods and say a prayer or something. Thank you for the help.--Acid