Ball Joints and Ball Joint Tools

[sfhess]

Some folks on here have had great success by just hitting things with a big hammer.

[sheila]

^ Somebody knows me, lmao!!!

[Joe_K]

I didn't have too much trouble with the passenger side, the driver side was worse. I didn't have to loosen/lower the subframe any, but, a 5 foot piece of 1 inch pipe came in handy as a pry bar and helped that I had the strut/knuckle/ball joint all assembled prior to putting it in the car. Had someone sit on the end of the pipe and I was able to get the control arm just low enough to slide it in with a little coaxing.

[Bob R]

Isn't it a pleasure that we have to resort to all these exotic ways of doing things just to perform maintenance on these Fix Or Repair Dailys?

That's because they have a better idea.

[liquid_force]

Originally Posted by Joe_K

I didn't have too much trouble with the passenger side, the driver side was worse. I didn't have to loosen/lower the subframe any, but, a 5 foot piece of 1 inch pipe came in handy as a pry bar and helped that I had the strut/knuckle/ball joint all assembled prior to putting it in the car. Had someone sit on the end of the pipe and I was able to get the control arm just low enough to slide it in with a little coaxing.

I've been able to get mine back in with just a 24" prybar. I've had the pass side apart once, and the driver's side twice.

I think the trick is DON'T put the knuckle pinch bolt back in the knuckle.
Slide the knuckle UP the strut tube as far as you can. I think there's 1/4" to 1/2" of slack there. That should provide the clearance for the LCA to clear the BJ stud, but it still takes quite a bit of downward force on the prybar.

[Architect]

The problem with installing the strut is that taking the suspension apart is NOT the reverse of putting it back together again.

Taking it apart you losen the balljoint from the control arm, lift the balljoint out of the control arm (pulling the knuckle up while pushing the control arm down with your foot) and then you pull the knuckle off the strut.

Putting it back together you first put the balljoint into the control arm and then wriggle the knuckle onto the strut.

Because there is very little room, the tension caused by the control arm makes reversing these procedures almost impossible.

[danhasenauer]

Man, you guys are working too hard! The driver's side is the bitch side, and I lower the subframe a good inch or more. 2 big bolts, just loosen them up some, don't remove. Let it down easy with a hydraulic jack a little, and those parts all slide together easy. Joe K, if you needed a 5' pry bar, you did need to lower the subframe! I used to be a pry bar guy myself until the first time I lowered that stuff for clearance. I was amazed at how easy it is to do.

[nbkcu33]

I am working on replacing the lower ball joint on my 2002 SES Sport drivers side. I have the new ball joint pressed in and everything is aligned but I can't get the LCA low enough to get the ball joint in the hole. I need about 3/4 of an inch. I am willing to try anything at this point. How exactly would I go about lowering the subframe?

[balochko24fan]

heres the easy way,just loosen the front attaching bolt of the lower control arm,it allowes the lower control arm to drop enoungh to put the ball joint stud back in,if for some reason it still dosent fit,remove strut pinch bolt and slide spindle up strunt for even more clearance.