bummer upper ball joint not coming off

this was the last of the ball joints and it's the hardest yet. was trying to do it without taking the spindle off the hub. it was the last I had to do. all others where easy. including innner tie rod and outer as well as the lower ball. was replacing one and got carried away went for replacing all of em. for a fresh front end.

I am headed back to loaner store to see about getting a smaller fork that maybe will push it out better(upper ball-joint).
the two jaw puller crumbles under the stress.

by the way what it is the hub nut size?

if smaller fork does not work i'll have to take the spindle to the shop for pressing out ball- joint. this option sucks. was not into taking off the hub and going to a shop

ready to put the truck back together. so close but so far away.

just wanted to share with you guys this episode, I am stopped in my tracks and getting pissed.

 

Yep! my uppers were a PITA as well. And had to take my spindles off in order to get them off. good luck to ya!

 

yeah,

it sound like I'm going to have to rent a hub puller and buy a socket. I need to find out what the hub nut size is on the truck so I can buy the right socket.
hope the hub comes off easy.

Well it turns out the parts store sent two right(s) on the tie rod ends so no truck thru weekend. I'm getting deeper and deeper into this deal. well when done I'll have fresh new front end (all new parts)for new tires and ride.

 

got the upper a arm and spindle off to take to machine shop, open on Saturday?

 

I ended up using a press at machine shop. It ended in a large "pow". that sucker was off.

 

What you want is a ball joint press. If you have a Checker in your area, they rent them for free/nearly free. It looks like http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/WMR0/W89304.oap?keyword=ball+joint+press&pt=N0724&ppt=C0374 I believe Autozone will also have something similar. Its just a super beefy c-clamp with a hex nut on the end so you can use an impact wrench on it. Comes with all sorts of spacer adapters to fit around the ball joint nut.

They also have a 4x4 extension kit that works along with the press. It just has a few different sizes which I found one of them useful.

This is the tool I used to remove both upper ball joints and the tie rod on one side. The passenger side came off rather easy with a pitman arm puller. If you're going to just replace the old pieces anyway, you may find it easier to cut the ball joint in half before using the clamp.

If you're really going to pull the hub off, it is a size 35mm. 35mm is a bit of an odd size, but a 36mm will work if you cant find the 35mm. (You aren't going to strip a 35mm nut being 1mm off.) Checker will also rent these as well (mine doesn't have a have 35mm). You'll also need a 170ft/lb torque wrench to put it back on.