HELP!

[barthel]

Started on the front end today (UCA's, bushings, etc.), but have been fighting with the same ball joint for about 3 hours now. I hate to say it, but it's winning!

 

For some reason, this damn thing just will NOT come off. I've tried a clamp press, pickle fork, air hammer, and it hasn't budged a millimeter.

 

Am i doing something wrong or missing something? Is there a trick or tactic I don't know about.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[unccpathfinder]

you did loosen up the castle nut?...what i had to do with a pickle fork is put a wrench on both sides on the bottom then the fork on top of that to give it enough "lift" to press the ball joint out...i also beat the hell out of 1 (put the nut on about 3 or 4 threads (so that when the nut mushroomed i could still back it off and slide the stud out of spindle)...when i helped wheelman do his the socket actually was busted and we couldnt hold the stud(it just spun so i ended up hacksawing it off and beating the crap out of it with a hammer...

 

u could also try to heat it up and beat on it or even heat it up and quinch it and maybe it'll break loose...i would offer a helping hand if u dont get it done by thurs but i think the gf would kill me if i flew all the way out to cali and worked on a pathy 1st thing...but if for some reason u cant get it by next sat i will kindly ask her if it would be ok to come and help out depending on exactly how far u r from california city

[barthel]

I appreciate the thought unc, but I'd hate to take you away from your new digs so soon. By the way, are you here yet, or coming soon?

 

Yes, I took the nut off, although it wasn't a castle nut. It was beefy and large, and did have a cotter pin holding it on, but no castle. I even put the pickle fork on the air hammer and went to town on it for about an hour. Damn thing's fighting me every step of the way.

[RedPath88]

Given what you have already tried.. I would have to second the heat suggestion.

 

Some penetrating oil can't hurt either.

[ColinBen]

Another way is to back the nut off a couple of turns and go find a rough dirt track with corrugations and get a bit of speed up.

This has been known to loosen up frozen ball joints.

Cheers,

[Simon]

Another thing to try is to give the side of the knuckle where the ball joint goes through a good whack with a hammer. Sometimes that'll loosen them up as well. Short of that, heat, and penetrating lube (PB Blaster seems to be the best) and keep working at it.

[unccpathfinder]

By the way, are you here yet, or coming soon?

 

if all goes well i will be out in june...i've got an interview with a small company on friday and i hope that or one of the bigger companies i've applied to will work out...

 

if i do get there in june my gf will be away on some training most of july and would be a great time for me to get out and explore the california wilderness but i think i will have to get rid of my mud tires and find some terrain tires that arent BFGs

 

hope u get it out soon...

[sammyb33]

why get rid of the muds?

[mws]

My technique for really stuck taper studs:

1) Quadruple check to make sure the clamping nut is loose, and that the suspension and springs are not working against agains you. Loosen T-bar if necessary. Leave the nut on so it doesn't fly apart when it breaks loose.

2) PB Blast.

3) Hammer the pickle fork in there. Make sure the pickle fork is the right size and is applying the force in the right place! Too narrow and you can beat all day without actually applying separating force as the fork is jamming against the shaft, trying to spread the fork tines rather than separating the joint. Remember, the shaft is tapered and is quite a bit larger in diameter where the fork is fitting than where the threads are. Test fit the fork on the new joint to assure it fits.

4) Leave the fork in there so the joint is under heavy load.

5) Break out the propane torch, heat the spindle end (the part that the taper bolt of the ball joint is going into) for about 5 minutes. Not glowing hot, but smoky stinky hot.

6) Give the pickle fork another rap to assure it is firmly in there.

7) Now give the side of the spindle end several sharp raps with a hammer.

8) If it hasn't popped yet, alternate hitting pickle fork and side of spindle.

 

I have never had this method fail - except when I was using the wrong size pickle fork!

[unccpathfinder]

why get rid of the muds?

 

its mostly sand and rocks out there isnt it?

[sammyb33]

well slick still finds mud somehow!!!!

[barthel]

Well, problem is getting worse. Either I'm a moron, or I have an incredibly stubborn truck.

 

Tried MWS's trick, didn't work. Tried the hot/cold thing, didn't work. Well, through a series of blunders, broke/cut the top of the ball joint off.

 

Now, I have a taper, stuck in a hole, with no clear way to get it out.

 

Any ideas?

[unccpathfinder]

isnt she up more to the north where theres a good bit of rain and what not...im sure i could find some in the mountains somewhere...i was just glad to get my mud fix the other day....and is pushing me harder to get the truck done b/c they graded in my old place and now its thick slick nasty black mud (helped my neighbor install a detroit locker in his jeep so we had to go test it out)

 

anywho i'll find mud b/c mud is fun and more forgiving than rocks...but i plan on doing some serious mods to her once i get out there

[blamtro]

Well, problem is getting worse. Either I'm a moron, or I have an incredibly stubborn truck.

 

Tried MWS's trick, didn't work. Tried the hot/cold thing, didn't work. Well, through a series of blunders, broke/cut the top of the ball joint off.

 

Now, I have a taper, stuck in a hole, with no clear way to get it out.

 

Any ideas?

Cutting Torch

[Guest SuperSon]

Sorry to hear that Bart. I wish I could help. Im doing mine tomorrow and glad I visited the site tonight. I wasnt planning on loosing up the tbar when prior to removing the uca but after reading Martins post I learned something new again

 

Im doing my uca tomorrow and was wondering if anyone could guide me on this one tonight.

 

My plan is to

 

Loosen the tbar first (thanks to Martin)

Loosen the castle nut till theres about 2-3 threads left

hammer in the pickle fork in there till it breaks loose( I hope) then completely remove the castle nut.

Once the ball joint is out of the knuckle remove the 2 bolt holding the spindle to the frame

Remove ball joint from old uca and install on the new aftermarket uca.

[Simon]

Well, problem is getting worse. Either I'm a moron, or I have an incredibly stubborn truck.

 

Tried MWS's trick, didn't work. Tried the hot/cold thing, didn't work. Well, through a series of blunders, broke/cut the top of the ball joint off.

 

Now, I have a taper, stuck in a hole, with no clear way to get it out.

 

Any ideas?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Take the entire knuckle out, put it in a vise, or press, and force the thing out of there. I have a ball joint puller, not a pickle fork that makes life real easy for me when I have a stubborn joint, but I still have to undo everything but the lower ball joint to get the top one out, using it.

[mws]

Well, problem is getting worse. Either I'm a moron, or I have an incredibly stubborn truck.

 

Tried MWS's trick, didn't work. Tried the hot/cold thing, didn't work. Well, through a series of blunders, broke/cut the top of the ball joint off.

 

Now, I have a taper, stuck in a hole, with no clear way to get it out.

 

Any ideas?

Crapp, that is stuck to a level I've never heard of...

 

I'm with Simon - pull the knuckle, clamp in a vice, try pushing throughwith BFH and large drift punch.

 

If that doesn't cut it, time for a new knuckle.... I can pull one off little black (assuming an '87 will fit yours) and send it to you for the cost of shipping and a six pack... But I will need your old one back as well so I can keep little black mobile.

 

I'm in Chico, CA.

[barthel]

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

I'll try a few more things to see if i can shake it loose. Been thingking about cutting the threads off the bottom enough to be able to get a clamp vice in there and see if i can drive it out from below.

 

Needless to say, this isn't instilling me with a bunch of confidence to do the other side, or even the lower one on this side for that matter.

 

I'll keep checking in and let you guys know how it's going.

 

Thanks Again.

[Simon]

Lower is tough too.....You're better off taking the whole knuckle out to do it as well. It's not hard. Just a little time consuming.

[Slick]

its mostly sand and rocks out there isnt it?

NO.

 

 

yes, i am a little further north.... but when it was dry as hell here, down south had floods...... i can always find mud... until about july. then it gets kinda sparse :sniff: but it can be found all year if you are determined enuff sly

i live in the "central valley" where rain is sparse, and heat is rampant.

Edited April 3, 2007 by Slick

[unccpathfinder]

ohh man that really sucks...what side are you fubared on...i have a set of spindles but the pass side i believe is screwed up from loose wheel bearings but if u want it i can ship it to u...i would put it in my bag but i dont think the airport would like that too much...

 

i would carefully...very very carefully drill down the center of the taper and gradually go up in size this should eventually allow the metal to flex so the taper can come out...

 

or carefully drill in with a small bit in the center for a pilot hole...then drill parallel to the taper on opposite sides...then make the pilot hole bigger and bigger (just making sure not to intrude into the spindle) once they're close to the parallel holes take a screwdriver and small chisel and carefully go down and break the 2 halves free... carefully pry the walls inwards which should relieve some of the compression and hopefully free it...you might even try 4 holes (every 90 degrees all the way around) to break it into 4 pieces...

 

or maybe even drill and tap a half inch bolt in there and go get a grade 8 bolt and see if i could crank it hard enough to twist it loose...if it breaks of inside ohh well just drill it back out

 

good luck

 

 

its mostly sand and rocks out there isnt it?

 

laugh.gif laugh.gif huh.gif NO.

 

ok well thats good...my gf is living in the middle of the mohave desert...so i figured most of that southern area was dry and all of this no humidity thing is dumbfounding me...it was like 70 degrees here today but i was soaked when i got home after my ride home...but thats good to hear i like mud

Edited April 3, 2007 by unccpathfinder

[barthel]

i would put it in my bag but i dont think the airport would like that too much...

 

Yeah, i think TSA would have something to say about that. -argue-

 

It's the passenger side. I have a couple more tricks I'm going to try before I consider it fubar'd. If push comes to shove, I'm just going to have to take the whole hub assembly off and try to get at it that way.

 

Wish me luck.

 

BTW

In the spring and fall, the Mojave can get some good rains, and when it does, YE HA. Last winter, it rained so much that the dry lake beds that Edwards Air Force Base uses were actually lakes. -bounce-

[unccpathfinder]

good luck.....

 

 

 

woo hoo to mud...well i just replaced the starter...she cranked up fine still havent had time to verify the timing since i did a timing belt change...but i know im going to have to do some diagnostics now b/c the SES light used to come on after it warmed up (didnt have the 02 in)...now it just stays on constantly (which wouldnt be a bad thing if i stayed in NC but as every1 expressed the stupid cali thing is gonna eat me up with this whole swap thing...so im hoping its just something with my hacked up gages...i dont want to drag her all the way out there and then they not let me drive her cuze of stupid emissions...

 

hmm i think i might have figured it out...lemmie start a new topic

Edited April 4, 2007 by unccpathfinder

[barthel]

Well, in unc's word's, "I believe I am fubar'd!"

 

It's gottent ot he point now where I just going to have pull the whole damn thing off and get a new knuckle. As a matter of fact, I'll probably get 2 as i can't see the drivers side being any easier.

 

So, unless someone else has any last minute bright ideas, I'm commencing the JY search.

[88pathoffroad]

If you're going to pull the knuckle off, just get it into a position where you can work on it and try some more. It'd be ridiculous trying to do the same job in a junkyard, don't you think? Spendy, too...