Joshs98Runner

I will give a short brief on my situation. I put in brand new OME N86 Rear shocks and had my Tokico Trekmasters waiting to install. Well today I got fed up of rolling around on 140k mile shocks so i pulled the wheels off to get started only to find greasy worn out ball joints. Sweet, so I spent a few hours tracking down parts stores that carry all the stuff I needed to do the job which was ok.

Now the fun stuff. I rented the tool set that is for removing and installing ball joints and am having more trouble than I should be, trying to replace these ball joints seemed so simple yet it is turning into the project from hell. Aside my frustration, putting the coil springs on the new struts wasn't too big of a deal.

My second problem, which I have not spent too much time on, is when I pulled the driver wheel off I noticed a pretty shiny axle shaft in place of my CV boot, the boot ripped cleanly around the clamp and is now almost useless. Instead of going through the hassle of replacing the boot itself and packing the thing with grease I just bought a whole new CV axle assembly for $80 from Advanced Auto.

Lovely day for me, looks like I might put it back together with the new shocks and pay a mechanic to do the ball joints for me since my patience is running thin and the tool set I rented isn't working too well for the job.

locked stock 84

Hey, I know how you feel! I am a tech at a diesel shop! Man, sometimes I wanna throw hundreds of dollars worth of tools through thousands of dollars of equipment! Look, walk away,take a breather! Go walk a mile! Look, nothing can be done right if you are HOT aka: especially so, keep at it, there is always a solution! Always keep the junkyard mind set: If you find something in the jy and you HAVE to have it you will stop at no ends to get it! There is always a way! If you need help, PM me, and I WILL find a way! the more you DIY the more you know!
I am happy to help! Let me know!

locked stock 84

WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nismo Convert

I've had good luck getting the ball joint to let go by placing a large hammer on one side of the control arm, and hitting the other side with a large hammer.

locked stock 84

Oh hell, I just checked your location! drive it up here, and I guarantee we will swap those pesky bj's (ha ha that sounds dirty) out!

Joshs98Runner

Thats exactly the method I used to release it from the a-arm as well, my trouble is actually in pressing the BJ out of the idle arm or whatever that thing is. It seems like I am going to have to take off my rotor assembly just to fit the c-clamp around it so I can press the joint out of its home lol.

Locked Stock 84, thanks for the offer man. I have rebuilt two engines successfully before, suspension work like this just wears on my patience from all the running around I have to do to gather up tools/parts that work. I slept on it and feel a little better this morning and am going to give it another shot before I throw in the towel. Besides, from all the messing around with the upper joint yesterday I must have damaged it because I tried to put the nut back on it and the stud just spins with the nut and the pressed joint underneath stays put, yay lol. So now I am sort of committed to at least getting the driver side together. There is a possibility I will try and get this driver side together and go see you to do the passenger side; it sounds like you probably have more and better tools/experience than I.

Joshs98Runner

Lord have mercy! I just got a quote from a shop to do the uppers and lowers and the labor alone would be $393 at $75/hour flat rate. Looks like I will be sticking it out regardless now, no way can I fork out almost $400 labor for ball joints.

Joshs98Runner

Update, got the lower BJ off via large mean hammer, took the brakes off and hung the caliper up neatly out of the way, took the abs sensor out, yanked on the hub assembly and the cv axle pulled out of the inner joint hehe. Someone overtightened the big 1 3/8 hub nut and I can't get it off with a hand wrench so I am going to go buy a socket and give it a whirl with the impact wrench. I need to pull the cv axle out of the hub assembly so I can manage to fit the big c-clamp tool I rented over the upper BJ. The upper BJ is still being a pain in the but and needs to die!

For all of you whom have replaced the cv axle, does it unbolt at the differential? I saw those bolts but thought they were just holding the diff in place and thought the CV would pull out via splines but it didn't.

If there is anyone in the COS area willing and able to lend a hand I would greatly appreciate it and feed you/congratulate you with what I can. I will be working on this all day tomorrow (Wednesday) so I can use all the help/advice I can get.

surf4runner

there is a recall for lower ball joints on 3rd gens.
unsure if it covers yours...worth a call to check out.

toy_tek

The CV is held into the diff by a snap ring on the shaft. The manual says you can pry the shaft out, but I used a 3/4" round brass bar, about a foot long, and a heavy hammer to tap it out. I wasn't able to pry mine out. Just tap on the inner flange and after a few heavy hits, it should just pop right out. You might want to drain some diff fluid out first, because it will come pouring out as soon as you unseat the CV shaft from the seal.

Joshs98Runner

I appreciate the advice, I was able to do all the ball joints today as well as the CV shaft and it all works great. The truck rides much better but I think I need to do the outer tie rod ends still, so I am waiting on those until I lift the truck so I can have it aligned all at once. One thing that really held me up, was getting the upper ball joint out which I soon discovered there is a ring around it that holds it in the arm. Lol no wonder it was so hard to get out, once I discovered that pesky little ring, problem solved and it took me about an hour to do the upper and lower ball joints on the other side of the vehicle.

iwilli1169

Did you have to drill rivets out of the lower ball joint? I was wondering if it is screws in the original BJ or if it's rivets.