89efhatchcrap

i have a 95 integra. my lower ball joint snapped today...anyone that knows what that is =a broken axle. i wish i had pics. im really BURNT, autozone doesnt have my parts till tomorrow. anyway, i need to know how to REMOVE my old ball joint. any info will be greatly appreciated.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

the lower ball joint housing will have to be pressed out of the knuckle.

Ritchie

When I replaced my lower ball joint, I used a ball joint remover tool. Not sure if autozone have that tool for rent.

dc4drewb

autzone has the pickle fork for rent

you just basically pound the fork into the ball joint and it will break off the pressed joint from the knuckle

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure about that? The pickle fork is for separating the ball joint from the control arm, not for removing the pressed-in joint from the knuckle. He said his ball joint already broke, so there is no need to separate anything. He just needs to get the ball joint housing pressed out and the new one pressed into the knuckle.

hybrid90

You can rent the tool from Kragens.. I did mine 5 months ago. It's much easier if you take the whole spindle off the car. Make sure you remove the lil spindle dust cover off or else the tool won't have a perfect fit on top of the ball joint head to press it out.

89efhatchcrap

precisely

DrSeuss

I don't know if this is the best way but this worked for me.

1) Remove the spring clip and dust boot
2) Check for a circlip and remove if found
3) Put a deep drive socket on the ball joint metal housing and pound away with a hammer. Since my ball joint didn't snap, I just put a nut on the threaded portion that extended past the socket and hit that. After a couple of wack the ball joint popped out.
4) Press in a new ball joint using a ball joint press. Basically a big c-clamp with different diameter shells and tops.

BTW I did this with the knuckle off the car since I was changing the wheel bearing.

89efhatchcrap

ok so what im getting from everyone is i need to take off the 'spindle' to get it out without getting frustrated. ok im gonna go do that. autozone gave me the wrong axle so i gotta wait to get that in. thanks HT

hybrid90

Well you can technically do it with the spindle/knuckle attached on the car only if you can jack the car up real high.. reason is because in order to use the ball joint press, you would have to place it under the spindle and the press is huge so you need some ground clearance to put your ratchet under the press to wrench it... you'll see when you start working on it...

red_crx

iTrader: (2)

I did almost the exact thing when I had to change one out at the track..used a 5/8 deep socket.

tech7427

air hammer with a blunt bit out and then back in

89efhatchcrap

picked up a lil tool to remove the ball joint....put the new one in, and the new axle. picked up a new tire. everythings PRIMO!

ek96vtec

Where did you find the tool? I've tried using the huge c-clamp tool from Autozone with no luck. It seems that I can't get it to align correctly with the adapters attached. The top part of the knuckle which connects to the upper control arm keep getting in the way. When I tried flipping it around and using the adapters that way, I couldn't get it stable enough to press it out from the top.

I was browsing on amazon and found this adapter set:
http://www.amazon.com/OTC-7996-Honda...=pd_sim_auto_2

Does anyone have any experience with this special adapter?

hybrid90

Are you using the C clamp to put the ball joint in or take it out? Just hammer the old ball joint out with a hammer and use the C clamp to press the new ball joint in. Remember to take off the spindle dust ring or else you're going to have a hard time getting the C clamp to align right to press the ball joint in... hope this helps..

I got the tool from Kragen, seems like theirs comes with more attachments. If you don't know.. the top of the C clamp sits on the head of the ball joint and the bottom sits over the pin of the ball joint...

DrSeuss

Hmm, that adapter kit look pretty nice. I'm guessing you use the half shell and the long adapter to press the ball joint out. And then use the adapter and short shell to pull it in.

I would just use a hammer to pop it out and you should be able to push the balljoint in with a basic balljoint kit. I bought my kit from Harbor Freight.

Sr420Det

Dont mean to interrupt, but I busted mine the other day putting in a axle (using the damn fork) and it put a small tear where a lil grease came out. How soon will I need to replace this thing?

ek96vtec

When hammering it out, would you hammer from the bottom or the top? Would you use a rod or pipe to hammer it out from the top, since there's not much room when it's still attached to the car?

Sorry, really didn't mean to thread jack.

hybrid90

Replace it soon as you can.. or else in time, all the grease is going to ooze out and you're left with a dried up joint.. not good! Get the oem boot from Honda cuz it'lll last you a long time..

hybrid90

To take the old bj out, you're supposed to hammer it from the BOTTOM but you must first take out the lock ring with a special lock ring plier (looks like a needlenose plier but the ends are curved up).

You can probably still hammer it from the bottom but you would have to raise the car up pretty high just to get a good swing since there isn't that much room from the ground to the bottom of the bj.

I find it much easier if you were to take out the whole spindle from the arm that's attached to the upper control arm.. but that's just me..

DrSeuss

If all you need is boot let me know. I have my old ball joints sitting on my bench. I can pull off a dust boot and ship one to you.

Better yet, go to a local Honda tuning shop. I bet they'll have a spare knuckle lying around where they can yank off the dust boot. A junkyard also works.

hybrid90

And to add to that.. don't use the ES dust boots they sell at your local autoparts stores... they suck! Use oem rubber boots....

ek96vtec

So, I finally got around to working on that lower ball joint once again. I finally decided to pull the entire knuckle off the vehicle for easier access. I can't see how all of you managed to knock it out using a BFG. I was using a sludge hammer and that ball joint still wouldn't budge. When using the typical ball joint press, it didn't have the adequate adapters. I even tried using sockets as adapters to press it out and no luck. On the EKs, the ball joint doesn't have the clip on top.

I've basically given up but all the mechanics around me wanted $40 to press out the old ball joint and to press in the new. Before I give in, do you guys have any more suggestions?

fergy016

their is a write up on www.team-integra.com how to do it on an integra. Pictures may help you figure out what is going on.

DrSeuss

Well the circlip is one the "bottom" when holding the knuckle upright. The old cars had them but I think honda did away with them. When i removed the LBJ's from my Integra knuckle, it didn't have them. My replacement LBJ's did (non OEM part) so I just put them on. Figured it couldn't hurt.

It just took a couple of wacks with a 5lb hammer. I could see it moved after the first hit. You LBJ might be really stuck. You could try heating up the knuckle a bit and then wack it with a hammer.