2009 Upper Ball Joints

New to the forum and have a questions: I need to replace the upper ball joints in my 2009 and as you can see by the pic, there's not much room to get a ball joint press in to re-install the ball joint. Has anyone done this without removing the UCA? I can get the BJ out, but getting it back in??? Not so easy.... Thoughts?

 

loosen the long bolt for the arm and let it rotate down to make room for the press.
thats the what i did it on my buddys or replace the arm

 

I'll give it a shot tomorrow!! Thanks!

 

Worked like a charm!!! Thanks! I'll post my process with pics so others can follow suit if needed!

 

My dealer told me that you cant replace the upper ball joints on a stock UCA.. that you need to buy the entire UCA and replace it. What brand of upper ball joints did you use? thanks for the help!

 

Stock upper control arms are less than $50 per side. Why would you even mess around with replacing the ball joints on them?

 

Curious where you got that price from? Was quoted $495 CAD per side..

 

I was given the same story about the UCA from the local dealership. Big bucks so I ordered UBJ's online and went at it. I'll post pics and details as to how I did it. Only about 2 hours work given that I had to figure it out. Next time will be much quicker. Key is to loosen the UCA so it drops down in order to get the ball joint press in. Little or no room to work so that was the trick!

 

Procedure for replacing UBJ's on a 2009 Tacoma 2nd generation:

First, jack up and secure the truck with your jack stands and remove the tire. Then support the lower control arm to keep it from dropping when removing the upper ball joint.

First, disconnect the sway bar link.


Then make sure you loosen the clamps for the brake line and the ABS line.

Then get your ball joint breaker and separate the ball joint from the spindle. Keep the lower control supported to keep it from dropping when separating the ball joint. Then swing the spindle out of the way.


Once you have separated the UBJ from the spindle, remove the boot from the ball joint and the "C" clip then using a cut off wheel, cut the threaded end off just below the ball.


You need to do this to allow room the get the ball joint press in to remove the UBJ from the UCA.

I used a large socket on the bottom of the press in order to press out the UBJ. Very little room to get the press in so this is a necessary step.


Once the UBJ has been pressed out. Use a 19mm wrench and socket to loosen the UCA. BEFORE doing this, measure the distance from the UCA to the upper fender liner and make note. When you re-tighten the UCA, you want to make sure it's at the same height as it was before loosening it. You can simply work the wrench and socket in to the control arm nut and bolt by pushing the rubber skirt away as seen here:


Once you have dropped the UCA, then you have room to get the BJ press in place and using the same socket you used to press the BJ out, use it to press in.


Once pressed in, put your "C" clip back on, grease and put the boot back on the BJ.



Then, start to tighten the UCA, then make sure it is at the same height from the fender liner and tighten. Using a jack, raise the LCA and spindle to get the BJ in place on the spindle and then put on and tighten the castle nut. replace the sway bar link and then you are done.