Help! Stuck Lower Ball Joint/CV removal questions as well

I just put a whole new front end on mine recently because of a blown C/V... I tried to fix it at Christmas, but busted the boots on the upper ball joints and tie rod joints with a fork. Everything was rusty and corroded so I ended up upgrading to OME shocks/springs and replaced everything but the steering knuckle, hub and bearing. Replacing everything made life a lot easier and the ride is better than when it was new.

 

And for cv removal...I’m gonna try not to not to damage the seal but if I do, are the drivers side and passenger side seal different? Autozone seems to only have one style and it says drivers side

 

They're the same.

 

Axle seal or CV boot?

Axle seals are not identical.

 

You can buy just the boot if the joint is still good.

 

Axle seal not boot. The inboard one

 

That's called "theft", and the perpetrators of theft are called "thieves". Those people make it hard on the ones who do return rental tools.

 

No, actually it's not.

They charged my credit card for the full price of them (Edit - I paid more than full price for them and they were used). I had a lengthy discussion with the store manager when I went to return them to make sure that was okay.

Just a life tip for you - Before you accuse someone of something like theft you might want to get the full story. Your point is completely valid, however you only got part of the story. You made a lot of assumptions on that one. Way to go.

 

Sure, you can rent one, but they're so cheap just buy one...

@goldentaco03 they're like $10-$15 at autozone or harbor freight.

 

And don't rent them and take too long to return them like I did. You'll pay about $25 bucks each for them.

 

Where I rent tools; O'Reily's or Auto Zone, there's not late fees or anything. You keep them as long as you want.

In fact, you can keep them if you really wanted to. They secure the value of the tool on your card, then refund it when you return it, so tool rentals are generally free...

 

You had good upward pressure on the ball joint stud.

 

That's exactly what I did...O'reily's and took a couple weeks to get back there and lost the receipt. I did it all kinds of wrong. I probably could have pressed the issue and gotten the refund but I was in a rush and said F' it. They're something I've been wanting to buy anyway. I've used them a few times so the time it takes not having to rent them has been worthwhile alone.

 

I thought about just keeping a few of the tools, like the balljoint press (the C-clamp style) however the rentals are always pretty haggered and beat up.

If I'm going to pay full price, I'll take new ones, lol.

I am also a member of their dumb club thing, so I just use my phone number for everything from battery warranties to tool rental. Easy Peasy.

 

my 2 cents worth... there is a right way and a wrong way to use tools. Just putting the puller on and hitting it with an air impact is the wrong way. Put the nut back on the ball joint if possible and have the nut maybe 1 turn down from the top of the ball joint. Put the puller on and tighten the screw and put some tension on the joint and then use the 2 hammer method. You save the joint, the tool and boot and keeping the nut on it prevents it from all falling to the ground. In situations where you are unsure of if what you are removing is under extreme spring tension, that nut could save your life, hand, finger, eye or the same for the guy next to you.

 

Bro why didn’t you just unbolt the 4 bolts holding the ball joint to the lower control arm?? That would have need 100x less of an issue lol

 

I believe the OP was wanting to change the ball joint. Still need to get the stub out of the A-arm.

 

Oh I missed that, my bad

 

I'm having trouble understanding why it is giving him so much trouble. I live in Michigan, and these are a pain from all the salt, but I never had one not pop using the hammer method.