intheboost

I am in the process of installing WCC lowering bolts. I have the lower mount of the shock removed, as well as the nut for the ball joint. I am trying to break free the lower control arm from the spindle, but the ball joint seems to be very tight. I have tried hammering on the lower part of the spindle, being careful not to damage the spindle. It is not breaking free. Any ideas?

captej

go rent a spindle fork...... pepboys,advanced auto

u1arunit

Pickle fork can work well but can rip the boot on the ball joint. Lots of times a good rap from a ball peen hammer on the side of the spindle will free it.

Bill Dearborn

It may take quite a few wacks of the hammer before it comes loose. After hitting it a few times shake the LCA to make sure it didn't come loose. I had to push mine down after the ball joint stud came loose.

Bill

intheboost

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I won't use a fork because I don't want to tear the rubber boot.

I am a little hesitant to get "aggressive" with the hammer on the spindle. How much force is ok on the aluminum spindle? How much is too much, and what does it take to crack/break the spindle?

z06tx

I just changed out one of my front hubs recently and I had the same problem after a few hits with the hammer. The hammer deal usually works but this time it did not. I ended up just grabbing the whole spindle assembly lifting it up while turning. The lower control arm should drop right out. Good luck! //art

intheboost

Thanks Art. So the steering wheel was unlocked and you turned back and forth pulling up? I will give that a shot tomorrow.

z06tx

No - it does not literally "move", more just lift and shake. Just moving the spindle seems to change the angle just enough to drop the control arm. Found this out only out of frustration from banging on the spindle so much I left a small flat spot on it so I just grabbed it and shook it My guess was that it was already loose after banging on it and it was just hanging there until I moved the spindle around. //art

dbratten

I'm changing to SKF hubs now on all four corners and just today popped them apart in my usual fashion. I loosen the ball-joint nut to a point where the nut covers the top of the threads or more but keep it threaded on the bolt. I then hit it a time or two with the BFH and it drops down. Keeping the nut on protects the threads. This works well for uppers, lowers and tie-rods.

z06tx

Now there is someone using his brain I got that filed away under the "DUH" file for next time. Thanks for the tip!! //art

dvandentop

pitman arm puller, some of those will not come loose easy at all. hell some of them i though i was going to break the pitman puller until they finally popped!

longdaddy

yes! the only way to go. $15 tool that will save you time and possibly prevent damage to your suspension


i bought a ball joint separator kit at harbor freight, best money I have ever spent in that place. it has different sized arm pullers and the other one (with 3 prongs), i use arm one for upper/lower ***** and 3-pronged one for tie rod. few seconds to take them apart and there is zero hammering/risk of damage to boots etc.

first time I took lower joint apart I used hammers, jack, pieces of 2x4 etc, not something I would recommend although I did get it done.

i have not seen that kit in the store for a while but you can just buy individual ones. tie rod joints are usually easy to break apart but i still use the tool to minimize hammering on my suspension

dvandentop

when i did my own bushings i tried and tried to get the lower a arm loose from spindle i beat the **** out of it and it did not come loose no matter how big the hammer. got the putman arm pulled on there and had to crank on it really hard with a bigger sized socket and long breaker bar but it finally came loose.

it is wrth the $$ i got mine at Harbor freight and used it a few times since.

seamus2154

This is my procedure also but I will add two points, 1. I take off the original nut and put on another then with the threads covered by this nut I use a small 2 lb sledge and give it a quick clean hit on the nut. When I'm done I put the original undamaged nut back on. I find the 2 lb sledge to work better than a big hammer because it's the shock that breaks it. Good luck

dbratten

Actually, in this case, my BFH is a 2 lb sledge. Ball peens are usually too light and claw hammers are dangerous.

I've never damaged a nut but your tip is a good one if you have an extra nut of each size available.

intheboost

Thanks again for the responses. I messed with it a little more, and could not get it free. I got to the point where I just decided to remove the 4 bolts where the upper control arm bolts to the engine compartment. This was definitely easier but I was trying to avoid this due to really messing up the alignment. After removing/reinstalling them, it appears there is little adjustment here anyway, so I don't think it is that bad. I wanted to get some miles on them to perfect the ride height before getting an alignment. I got the fronts done, and will be attacking the rears tomorrow.