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balljoint remvoal?

C

CHEVY 4WD

1/2 ton status
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May 14, 2002
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sorry I couldent even spell the title right **removal**


Kinnda feel dumb asking this because it shouldent be this hard. But Im trying to put my 44knuckles on my 10bolt (for crossover) but i just can get the balljoints out to remove the old knuckle I took the 2 nuts off them there looks to be some kind of retainer but I have no idea how it works. any help would be great
 
You need a ball joint seperator tool. Put it in between the knuckle and the C and hit it. The ball joint is tapered as well as the holes in the knuckles so it kinda locks them in place. Dont quote me on it but you might be able to hit the knuckle with a hammer. I am not sure how tough they are and not sure if you would crack it hitting it with a hammer.

Ira
 
Also, you can put the nuts back on to not damage the threads and hit the ball joint itself and drive it out of the C. The joint is in the Knuckle correct? I cant remember I have a 60.

Ira
 
If you're trying to save the ball joints, you can back off the adjuster on the upper one to break it free. After that, you can either smack the bottom one with a BFH (with the nut partially threaded on, as previously mentioned) of you can use a separator.
Either way has its risks.
With the BFH method, you could bugger the threads.
With the pickle fork/separator method, you will almost definitely bugger the grease boot.

A variation of the BFH method is to actually smack the end of the axle "C" instead of the ball joint or the knuckle. By hitting the axle where the tapered hole is, you can deform the hole just enough to pop the ball joint shaft out. This also works for tie rod ends and drag links.
You can't use that method on the upper ball joint, though. The threaded hole has a much thinner wall thickness and will permanently deform without releasing the ball joint, due to the adjusting insert.
 
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Mine would come out for anything so I took a tie rod seperator and put it on the bottom ball joint between the knuckle and "C" and hit it with a sledge hammer till it broke free. 5 or 6 hard whacks and the think came off.
 
I just turned the knuckle all the way one direction and smacked the cast area around the ball joint about 5 times and then turn it the other way and do the same. I put the nut on just a few threads so if the hammer slipped it wouldn't booger the threads. Anywhere from 5 to 10 decent wacks with a 2 lb sledge and it broke loose. One side both came out at the same time and the other had to do the top and then the bottom.

The stud has a tapered area and you need to shock the ball joint and it will fall out. I replaced all mine so I wasn't worried about keeping the old ones. I am thinking they may be could to keep for spares in case some idiot :whistle: breaks thier junk on the trail.

Also just in case you run into the problem I had. The lower ball joint stud or bolt would just spin so I put a floor jack underneath it and lifted the truck up slightly and that held the stud so I could take the bolt off.
 
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