I am in the middle of replacing my upper control arms and I can't get the ball joint back into the spindle. I got it out without to much difficulty and the lower ball joints were easy. My truck has the ball joints as an assembly with the upper control arm. Thanks for any help/suggestions.

 

by myself i had to support the spindle with the top of my thighs and then pull down the on the arm to get the ball joint into the spindle and i had the bolt already somewhat in the spindle so i could quickly tap it in...are you getting close at all?

 

truck specs please

if you are coil sprung 2wd and got torsion bar uppers, the BJ's will not fit the spindles.

other than that, i use a jack under the LCA and a pry bar to pull down on the UCA. also helps if the UCA bolts arent tight yet...

 

I had the same problem. I just pried open the spindle some more and it went right in.

 

i jack up the LCA until the upper BJ went into the spindle, then jack it up some more, if it doesnt slide i persuade it with a rubber mallet

 

My truck is 2wd with coils. The control arms I am putting back in look exactly like what I took out. I wasn't sure if I could beat on the new control arms with a hammer. I can get the ball joint lined up with the spindle, I just can't get it into it. I tried jacking up the lca but, the uca just went with it. I have tried to pry the spindle apart with a screw driver and with my pickle fork, but it doesn't seem to move. I am worried that I will fatigue the spindle if I try to spread it to much. I have my truck on jack stands on the frame. I guess I will try jacking under the lca and a pry bar on top of the uca in the morning. Thanks for the help.

 

dont beat too much, hell its not even the best advice but it works, if it wont go, dont force it.. i just use a hammer to get it to slide in.. its not a hard beat

 

the problem i ran into was the truck dosent weigh enough to compress its own springs, i had trouble at first when using a floor jack, i didnt have jack stands, i had a scissor jack which is used to lift 10000+ pound 18 wheelers what ended up working was lowering the scissor jack and the floor jack togeter until the tire on the other side hit the ground and the opposite side or the truck from the side i was working on bassically is balancing on the jack and the other side is in the air then the weight of the truck helped get it in.

 

It turns out that the auto parts store sold me UCAs for a torsion bar truck. The ball joints were much bigger than the spindle. I bought new upper ball joints and pressed them in. I had issues with them going in straight. I thought that I got them both in correctly but, I check yesterday and the right one has backed out. There is a clip on the ball joint holding it in. I am going to have to tear it apart again and try to get it seated properly. I am glad that this isn't my only car. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

ive seen stupider stuff happen....
did they not have a set of coil sprung uppers you could exchange for?