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Lower ball joint is STUCK!

15K views 26 replies 10 participants last post by  dbfruth 
#1 ·
This lower ball joint just will NOT come loose from the lower control arm! I've jacked up the suspension by the rotor and hit the control arm, I've tried a pickle fork (the large version), I've even rented and bought 2 different ball joint separators! One shoots off when you try to torque down on it, the other broke under the tension and sent a chunk of steel flying like a bullet!

I've given up and ordered a new control arm from amazon. Has anyone had luck getting these off?!
 
#2 ·
This lower ball joint just will NOT come loose from the lower control arm! I've jacked up the suspension by the rotor and hit the control arm, I've tried a pickle fork (the large version), I've even rented and bought 2 different ball joint separators! One shoots off when you try to torque down on it, the other broke under the tension and sent a chunk of steel flying like a bullet!

I've given up and ordered a new control arm from amazon. Has anyone had luck getting these off?!
Been there. See pic, you can saw the BJ off flush with the LCA. In my pic, after doing this, heat, puller, and big hammer with no luck. Best buy a new LCA in this case. This happens when previous shop over tightened the nut.

In my case, took the LCA off, (easy at this point) and used 8# sledge with two torches and did get it off with way too much pounding. Never try this again. Just put on new LCA. New bushing likely needed anyway.

Been to the JY number of times and you see the saw the BJ stud off in the field. It is not very hard.

-chart-
 

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#3 ·
Thanks. I was beginning to think I had missed a second nut or something. But looking at it, there's nothing holding it except friction at this point. The second the ball joint spreader broke I was like "Nope!" and ordered the new LCA. I think I'll be glad in the long run. This poor thing has had some questionable "servicing" over the years. The door panels are held on with deck screws because someone messed up too many of the clips. One of the intake bolts looks like it was replaced with something from a hardware store and is in at an angle. I'm really surprised it's not leaking there. I pulled some replacements out of a junk yard car and will probably have to drill, tap, and helicoil it to get the stock bolt back in.

I can't promise it an easy life, but if I can get it passed inspections and licensed, it can at least expect to have some wrongs righted.
 
#5 ·
This is where the loaner tool ended up after it shot off:



And this is the remains of the one I bought (harbor freight):

 
#6 ·
I have gotten them to pop out with that took a few times but I really did not care for the amount of pressure it took to do so. I like that avatar photo. I knew right away it was a Rambler, my dad had a 63 for forever. I think it was even that same red.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for that avatar pic of the 1965 Rambler Classic LF headlamp bucket. Ramblers ran in my family. I'd recognize that, anywhere. :)
 
#9 ·
Sheila, are you talking about the one on the "back" of the ball joint? The one that holds it to the knuckle? Cause I haven't even gotten that far! I'm trying to get the stud out of the lower control arm. If you're telling me there's a snap ring on the control arm somewhere, I might just kick myself into next week! I sure looked for something else holding it on, but I didn't see anything.

Since everyone's bringing up my avatar... It doesn't take much to get me to talk about my Ramblers. I have two. One is a '67 Rebel, the other is a '65 Classic Cross Country 660 wagon. My avatar is the 65. It's my favorite horse in the stable, but sadly the one I haven't gotten to ride yet. It's a project that has grown in scope from "just needing an engine" to a full-on driveline swap, including a re-engineered rear end. But that's a story for another thread. What's the policy on posting links to other forums here? I have a build thread I could link to.





 
#11 ·
Sheila, are you talking about the one on the "back" of the ball joint? The one that holds it to the knuckle? Cause I haven't even gotten that far! I'm trying to get the stud out of the lower control arm. If you're telling me there's a snap ring on the control arm somewhere, I might just kick myself into next week! I sure looked for something else holding it on, but I didn't see anything.

Since everyone's bringing up my avatar... It doesn't take much to get me to talk about my Ramblers. I have two. One is a '67 Rebel, the other is a '65 Classic Cross Country 660 wagon. My avatar is the 65. It's my favorite horse in the stable, but sadly the one I haven't gotten to ride yet. It's a project that has grown in scope from "just needing an engine" to a full-on driveline swap, including a re-engineered rear end. But that's a story for another thread. What's the policy on posting links to other forums here? I have a build thread I could link to.
Only snap ring is shown in the pic. This if a wagon rear but front is the same except for the boot.

-chart-
 

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#10 ·
Good luck and good hunting on getting the rear end rebuilt on your car. My '65 Ambassador had the same drivetrain, at least as far as the torque-tube housing to the differential and the Watts link for lateral axle location. With the lack of mechanics around these days who've even SEEN such a layout, it may as well be a 1965 Lancia. There are guys out there who know them. like them to a degree and work on them still - but they are as scarce as the 1965 Ramblers, now.

Cheers from another diehard Nash/Hudson/Rambler nut. (I left AMC out for a reason.)
 
#12 ·
Ok, good. The part that's stuck on mine is the tapered stud where it goes through the control arm (the threaded part that the castle nut goes on). The snap ring goes on the main body of the ball joint where it goes through the steering knuckle. As far as I know, it doesn't need to be removed to get the control arm to separate from the knuckle, only when you go to press the ball joint out of the knuckle itself. *I think*
 
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#13 ·
Ok, good. The part that's stuck on mine is the tapered stud where it goes through the control arm (the threaded part that the castle nut goes on). The snap ring goes on the main body of the ball joint where it goes through the steering knuckle. As far as I know, it doesn't need to be removed to get the control arm to separate from the knuckle, only when you go to press the ball joint out of the knuckle itself. *I think*
See pic, BJ new BJ, press in place and snap ring attached. I left the speed sensor in the knuckle as it is hard to remove the Torx nut. Just unplugged and kept it in place.

-chart-
 

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#14 ·
Had to remove the lower control arm and cut the ball joint stud off. After that, removing the snap ring and pressing out the ball joint was a breeze.

I cut the boot for the new moog ball joint when the new snap ring came off the plyers. So I have to get a replacement. I hear universal tie rod boots work well.

 
#17 · (Edited)
Getting back to the original question, in case it ever comes up again, the puller that Chart showed in about the second entry to this thread is the one I use. Never had one break, but then I live in a dry, snow free, salt free environment. Where chassis rust doesn't happen.

A little tip, using the tool in Chart's pic, do the remove in stages. Put it on, torque it down and stop. With a fairly large hammer or a smaller sledge, hit the side of the steering knuckle where the BJ is stuck. Torque some more, hit some more. Repeat. It should just pop right out--without breaking the tool. The tool in Chart's pic is called a Pittman arm puller--places like Autozone will loan two different sizes. You would need the larger. the smaller is handy for removing tie rod ends. They're inexpensive enough that I bought both.

The only other loaner tool I needed was a three jaw puller to get the axle out of the hub.

Count your blessings that it's a McPherson Strut suspension. Only one ball joint per corner. My4wd Dodge Dakota, that I've been putting off has 2 ball joints per side in the front. A knuckle buster for sure!

I bought closeout Raybestos ball joints from Rockauto. The boots rotted out in about 7 months. Couldn't find anything that would work to replace the boots. Rockauto ended up refunding the cost & I replaced them with Moogs. YMMV, But good luck being able to get just the boots.

BTW, I did my control arms. It was a bitch! (I have a wagon, no control arms in the back.)
 
#19 ·
#23 ·
The deed is done. I replace the boot with a universal tie rod boot from Advance. It seems to work ok. I guess time will tell.



Everything went back together a lot easier than it came apart, but still took a few hours. All I have left to do now is to change the rear driver's-side wheel bearing and change the windshield wipers. Then I'll finally have a car that's legal to drive!



Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.
 
#24 ·
I drove the Taurus today and the suspension repairs seem to be good. Turns out the wheel bearing wasn't a problem. The lug nuts on that wheel were loose! I checked the other wheels and all is good. But that could have been bad!

On the way in the SES light came on. I was hoping to get through emissions testing without it coming on, but I had a feeling it would. I have hesitation on acceleration when cold. When you first try to accelerate away before the engine has reached operating temperature, the car stutters, almost dies. Once the RPMs come up, it's fine. I expect to get a lean code and to find some worn out vacuum lines. I hear the PCV is a common suspect. I just hope it's something that doesn't cost much to fix. I don't have much cash left and this thing is nickel and diming me to death.
 
#26 ·
tried those boots from advance, they didn't last long. They tend to break apart even worst than the original ball joint boot because they are compressed. If they are short enough it might last but these are just temporary fixes.
 
#27 ·
I know I am late to the party but this may help someone else. Cutting is not necessary. You need LEVERAGE. I have separated ball joints on multiple Taurus's even frozen solid ones by jamming a heavy duty pickle fork in as far as I can get it (you will ruin the boot) Then I put a 4 ft cheater bar on the end and stand and bounce with all my 225 lbs of fat. Hold on to something because when that dude pops loose it does it all at once. I have never had it take more than a few minutes start to finish to get one loose this way.
 
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