Ok, so i have the balljoints out of the lca's and they are just attached to the knuckles. I have a complete set of new lower balljoints and i cant get the damn old balljoints out for the life of me.

I am talking about removing the bj itself from the knuckle, NOT removing it fromt he lca (already did that). I have the crown nuts off both lower ball joints (knuckle and tierod) but i cant get the balljoint out of the knucle and i cant get teh f'n tierod stud to come out of the knuckle

Does this have to be hydro-pressed out?! HELP

 

Hammer and a useless old socket thats big enough, roughly almost the size of the balljoint. Just hammer it out and hammer the new one in. Works perfectly.

 

do i need to remove anything from the knuckle itself? like it looks like there is a little lip around where the wheel bearing is that would prevent the balljoint from coming out once its free.

Im guessing you hammer it out fromt he bottom up right?

 

Okay I just have to ask.... Have you removed the axle from the knuckle? I hope so. There is also a spacer (#2 in bottom pic) between the axle & hub that can get in the way. If it does, just pop it out with a screwdriver. Also make sure the spacer goes back in all the way when you reinstall it...

Supposedly there is a balljoint press tool (see below) you can rent at Autozone for free. You just setup the cups properly and press the old balljoint up through the knuckle (towards where the axle used to be). You can also try the Big-Fukin-Hammer method that many people perfer.

Also, most balljoints use a large snap-ring (#24 in bottom pic) to keep the balljoint from ever backing out, so make sure that is not present when you try to remove it. If you don't, you'll get nowhere fast...