Stuck Upper Ball Joint Nut

Started putting my 2" lift in today and after finishing up the back I started on the front and everything is frozen right up. The sway bar links I am going to have to cut off and replace because the key hole for what probably was an allen key is stripped. That is the least of my problems though.

Put a socket on the castle nut for the upper ball joint, all the teeth except 2 broke off immediately. Even putting a 19mm wrench on it with a cheater just starts to strip it out. I have tried heat, I have tried sprays, basically the only options left are to cut it out and replace with an new UCA or pray that a nut buster works on it.

Anyone have any other ideas? At this point I am almost ready to drop $700 on some TC UCAs and just cut everything out. I would really prefer not to spend a ton of money to fix this issue on a 3 year old truck.

 

By castle teeth, do you mean where the cotter pin goes? I can't picture how you'd break the teeth on the castle nut. The socket slides down the nut and pressure is applied evenly on the nut - I've never seen the teeth break off if the socket is placed properly. The obvious: Are you turning left lucy and is the cotter pin out?

 

Sounds like he accidentally used the wrong socket and rounded of the nut.

 

Definitely the correct socket and wrench. Made extra sure to use a 6pt instead of a 12pt as well. I'll post a picture in the morning. The rust on it is unbelievable. It's like it was put through winter and never washed.

Yes I was turning the correct direction. First thing I do is check the direction before even putting the ratchet on. The nut isn't rounded off. Just all but 2 teeth are gone and it won't turn. I cab still put a wrench on it.

Like I said even the studs on the sway bar links are toast we can't get those nuts off either, not a big deal because I have 2 new ones on the way. I'm going to just cut those off and put new ones on. It's only $40 for the pair.

 

Post a pic. Try to heat just the nut and try removing it again. Put a water soaked rag on the top of the BJ to protect it from the heat. Do you have torches? If no you could buy a nut splitter.

If you used the heat method your going to have to work quickly. If too much heat gets into the ball joint it will destroy it.

 

I put a torch to it yesterday and heated the nut and bolt for a decent amount of time and it didn't budge even a little. I had a temp gun on the ball joint and another on the nut itself. I may try to weld a socket to it?

I ended up getting frustrated with it last night and bought some total chaos UCAs. I'm going to wait til they get in Wednesday and try one last time to get the nut off. If that doesn't work I'm going to cut the ball joint and nut right off the spindle and put new arms in.

 

Have you watched the video of the guy doing g the total chaos UCAS swap? If not find it and watch it. I know you have to smack the spindel with a hammer to separate the two. but maybe this will out some down force or break something loose. You have to whack that spindel pretty good

 

It your good with the torches you can cut just the nut off without touching the stud.

 

I watched the video on it this morning about 3am. It doesn't look terrible to do. I have a 4lb hammer I plan it hit the spindle with, but I also have a ball joint press and a pickle fork. To cut it off I have a sawzall with a carbide tipped blade for it. That should zip it right off. I also have a few grinders if needed.

 

Smack that shit before u do anything else I'm telling u I had to wack mine good.

 

He's problem is that the nut won't come off. Hitting the knuckle with a hammer is done to break the tappers grip on the stud.

 

I understand that but if you have rust u need to smack it anyway

 

Yeah, the problem is the nut wont even move. It's still wedged right on there. I'm going to try again Wednesday when I have the new arms. I'm going to get the stick welded out and see if I can weld a socket right to the nut. This is frustrating for a 3 year old truck. I've had easier times restoring 100 year old items

 

I'll give it a try

 

You'll get better alignment numbers and articulation with new UCAs anyway. Sawzall away!

 

That's about the only plus right now, well that and they are fully rebuildable. If the nut and bolt seize on these, i can cut it off and push the bolt up through. I'm going to bolt cap everything this time around or ceramic coat all my hardware

 

Or you could just use some anti-seize on the threads.

 

I could but it's messy and everything sticks to it. Drives me bonkers. But I may

 

Well I see you're a powder coater -- When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

I use the stick - doesn't make a mess at all.

 

I have plenty in a can. I just prefer not to use it on applications like this. Ceramic is no mess, is a MIL thick, protects threads from rust without any flim, is extremely smooth, and is very hard so it hardly wears. The stuff I intend to use is a 9h pencil hardness. I did the brackets that go under the axle for u bolts yesterday. They were looking rusty so while they were out i blasted them, zinc coated them, then powder coated them. Should never have to worry about rust on them again. If I have more time this winter I'll do my leaf packs as well if I don't replace them.