Can't remove lower balljoint from spindle...Please help!!!
 

As the title says, Ive been banging away at this f!@#!@# thing for literally two hours & I have blisters now. Soaked it in pb blaster, bent a crowbar and hit it with my mini sledge every which way until the handle split. Im hitting it with some force too, cause im putting marks in the spindle. IDk what the hell to do next.

Took me about 30 minutes to change out the upper control arm and tie rods, and now im stuck on this ------- thing. Its stuck where the lower ball joint tapers into the spindle...found a video where some guy taps on his twice and the thing just falls off, so somethings not right here.

Help me ranger-forums, you are my only hope....


Ps. Yes i did remove the castle nut and pin..

pickle fork

use heat

Use both mentioned above at the same time

jack/impact socket
BFH/Impact socket

or you could buy the LBJ tool..

I like to use a ball joint tool.

SO heat and a pickle fork...I figured if it bent my pry bar, than it wouldnt yield to a pickle fork, but i guess I'll have to go out and get one tom. I also just tried to jack it up by the castle nut, but it still wouldnt budge from the knuckle....


Should I jack up the LCA to take some of the tension out of the torsion bars???

Right now its time for a chill session, cuz im about ready to break something. hahah

I thought the balljoint tool was only used to press out/in the BJ from the control arm... Will it work to remove it from the steering knuckle as well?

sorry im retarded didn't notice it was stuck in the spindle lmao. If you have air tools, blast it with an air hammer it should come right out.

I pulled my axles out of the diff with the hub attached and all to do them just because there was a ton of room

Thanks for the replies everyone, I told myself I'd leave it til the morning and have some nug time...but I couldnt go to bed with my baby in that state.

So i fixed my sledge with some super glue and alot of duck tape and went ape shit...and i got it out!!!! The key for mine was to thread the castle nut back on the lower ball joint, and then hit the BJ stud with the hammer, instead of hitting the spindle. The stubborn B!@# popped right out! Hell yeah, glorious victory for me :439:

99offroadrngr: Glad you mentioned the axles, cause my front cv axle kinda popped out with the knuckle, even though it was supported. I pushed it back in, but is there a proper way these should "mesh" together??

Glad you got it out! For the CV axle, if it didn't come out all the way, you should be fine by just pushing it in. They're splined so if it didn't come out all the way, there should still be enough of the splines holding it in place. If you're unsure, look through the side where the CV goes into the differential. You'll see a raised "flat spot". Put a long prybar or long flat head screw driver on that and lightly tap it with a hammer so it slides further in.

Good to hear it's out. Mine were hard to get out when I put my lift on, couldn't get them out without heating them up.

You've noticed that I don't read throughly/verywell/at all

why were you hitting the spindle? and why are you trying to hit it up? You should be able to remove the snap ring on the BJ, and hammer it towards the floor. They are pressed in from below.

Heres the pictures from when i did mine. Took me 2 hits to remove it and 4 to put it back in. 5lbs sledge.

Old one
https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343916151

2 hits down knocked it out after removing the snap ring
https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343916151

use a jack and hammer to press the new ones in
https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343916151
https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343916151

then snap ring and grease fitting.
https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343916151






No idea why you were having so much trouble.

you also lack cv axles and have more room. He left the axles on so its a little harder. I just remove them to make it easy

ah good point. yea that will make it a tough go.

when in doubt, pull it out

https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ine=1343923267

The ball joint was stuck in the steering knuckle, not the control arm. Once it seperated from that, it only took a couple of whacks til it popped out of the lca.

Had the hardest time fitting the knuclke over the lower BJ, but i pulled on the biznitch til the axle boot stretched like an acordion and voila!! got it over...there goes another hour of my life wasted lol....

MY apologies for posting all my troubles...a year ago id never even changed oil really...and now im rebuilding my suspension, so still a rank amateur.

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