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The boot on the upper ball joint is splitted in the center, so not retaining any grease. I have remove the castle nut but the thing is not moving. Do I need to remove something else (lower ball joint, steering joint, stability bar) to break it loose?
The ball joint assembly is riveted to the upper arm. So I need to change the whole arm???
The steering joint boot is leaking at the top, is it because there is too much grease or because it needs replacement??
Many thanks!
It's a all the same thing on both side of the car. It' a pretty stock 81 by the way. Only 14k miles!
1. Just wack the steering knuckle on the side with a BFH. PUT A JACK UNDER THE LOWER CONTROL ARM/BALLJOINT! The coil spring could kill you or at least ruin your day.
2. grind the heads off the rivets and drive them out with a punch.
The boot on the upper ball joint is splitted in the center, so not retaining any grease. I have remove the castle nut but the thing is not moving. Do I need to remove something else (lower ball joint, steering joint, stability bar) to break it loose?
The ball joint assembly is riveted to the upper arm. So I need to change the whole arm???
The steering joint boot is leaking at the top, is it because there is too much grease or because it needs replacement??
The joint is held to the spindle with a taper friction fitting -- i.e. both the joint stud and the spindle have matching taper angles. Tapers have fantastic holding power against separating. You need to either shock the side of the spindle with an impact gun or 1-2 pound hammer, or use a joint puller/separator. The boot can be damaged using the separator tool but that's not a concern in your case.
If you are changing out the ball joint, then yes, you need to drill out or grind off the rivet heads. The joint is only held by those 3 rivets. A replacement joint will have 3 small bolts to replace the rivets.
Excess grease coming out is fine and shows that it's full. Wipe off the excess to keep it from dripping or accumulating road grit.
PUT A JACK UNDER THE LOWER CONTROL ARM/BALLJOINT! The coil spring could kill you or at least ruin your day.
^THIS^
Keep the nut on the ball joint spindle threads to contain the parts when the taper separates. If you've never released a suspension spring before (which your questions lead me to believe is the case), make sure you read up on how to do it safely.
I use this pitman arm puller on the upper ball joints and it splits easy... as others said if removing the ball joint rivets need to be ground down flat, use a chisel between the A-arm and the ball joint base... hit it with a hammer and it will show the rivet location on top and punch it through
Do as the others have told you....put that jack under the lower ball joint, but keep a very slight gap....1/16". The gap will allow the spring pressure to assist in separating the joint. Keep the upper ball joint nut right where you have it in the pic, or maybe tighten it a few turns so there's only about 1/8" gap, then hit the spots circled in blue with a good sized hammer....the vibrations created will separate the joint.
First of all, you really don't need to do anything. The rubber boot just keeps dirt out and doesn't have anything to do with the performance of the Ball Joint. Ok so you want to replace it anyway. They sell just the rubber boots by themselves no need to replace the Ball Joint. These cars are only original once so don't change it if it doesn't need it. When I see a low mile car one of the first things I look at is if it's got the original Ball Joints. If it's got bolt in Ball Joints, then I get really skeptical on just how true the odometer is.
1. Just wack the steering knuckle on the side with a BFH. PUT A JACK UNDER THE LOWER CONTROL ARM/BALLJOINT! The coil spring could kill you or at least ruin your day.
2. grind the heads off the rivets and drive them out with a punch.
3. The tie rod end boot looks to be over filled.
THIS.... Keep several threads on it. Those springs are no joke and do not count on the shock stopping it. The energy in a spring will kill you and it won't care how loud you scream. If you're not comfortable whacking it with a hammer your local auto parts store will probably rent a front end service kit that will allow you to more easily break things loose. Your call, either way will get it done on balljoints you plan to replace.
Get some help from somebody who has experience. As several people have said, if a spring comes out uncontrolled, it could seriously injure you.
I'm doing my front suspension right now, and even after 40 years experience, I'm double checking everything before I unload those springs.
Last edited by hdeyong; Sep 7, 2024 at 08:48 AM.
Reason: spelling
Removing upper ball joint
