Upper Balljoint popped out...

yes

 

Personally, I would still just rent a ball joint press from autozone or the likes

 

I just replaced my ucas. If u end up needing one hmu

 

She's all done. Ended up having to cut off the top of the old ball joint AND the lower cup that houses the ball. I attempted to press the lower section out (connected to the knuckle) and ended up putting a hole straight through it. Decided to say f*ck it and cut a nice notch in it with the dremel, then tapped it out real easily.

 

The bajataco write up is good, right up until he removes the BJ with a 3 jaw, then installs a new one with a flat prybar and a modified pitman arm puller.

F that.

That was the most infuriating time of my life trying to get the BJ to go in straight.

Just get a balljoint press. They are FREE to rent at auto parts stores. FREE!!!!

A lot of things have changed in the 10+ years since that was written up.

 

worked for me, easy as pie!!

 

It obviously worked for the bajataco guy too. And that's why I gave it a try all those years ago, It "worked" for me too, but took hours, and lots of cursing. The next time I did it (went to uniball uppers, actually), I rented the proper tool and it took 30 seconds to install the plugs (same process as the balljoints).

But when you can rent the proper tools for free, I can't see very many reasons why you'd go through the trouble to jury rig something like that. Too many things have to go perfect for it to work.

 

I actually tried using a three arm puller. Didn't work for sh*t. Returned it and got a traditional c clamp ball joint press which worked perfectly. Now time to do the other three ball joints... when I find some free time

 

lol can't believe you were able to drive it at all without the spindle being attached to the upper control arm

 

Don't know if I'd call it driving.. more like limping. 1st gear the entire way home, it was only about half a mile. However that half mile took about ten minutes since I was doing <5mph lol.

Planning on doing the other three ball joints next weekend. I take my trucks on camping trips frequently and I CANNOT have that happen when I'm 3 hours from home.

 

I also love I can never have just ONE thing go wrong at a time. Aside from the ball joints, my throwout bearing is starting to squeek, so theres another massive project I have to find time for.

 

Looks exactly like the shitty napa chassis ball joints I tried out and the bottom one popped out! scared the shiznit out of me. Maybe on the top it wouldn't be as terrifying. lol

 

It was pretty terrifying... I hit a bump and started to get "death wobble"... flashbacks to my jeep ownership hahah

 

That is nuts, at that point the only thing really keeping it from completely letting go is the lower ball joint, I would be giving thanks to the Toyota gods that the LBJ didn't decide to crap out too given they have a tendency to do so. I would definitely be replacing all 4 ball joints after that

 

Yessir. I will admit it was pretty dumb of me to drive it home but I made it... Did not feel like having to call a tow truck to come pick my truck up in front of a GIRL's house who I was hanging out with. Not the greatest look hahah

 

Previously owned truck, right?
That safetywire showing tells me that this was not the first time it ever happened.

 

Yes, I am the third owner of the truck. I don't have service records of anything ball joint related. Could have been changed, could not have. Doesn't really matter to me since I'm gonna replace all four of them.

 

I ended up having to resort to wrapping a bunch of bailing wire around the 3 arms to try and keep them latched on to the spindle, which "worked", but the proper tool really just makes the whole process easier.

I'd have kept the 3 arm puller though, I've used it for various odd jobs when there isn't another tool to get it done.


The other upper should go quickly too now that you have the right tool. I put my UCA plug converter things in the freezer over night, and they went in like butter. Can do the same with the BJ if you want.

The lowers are pretty straight forward, too. All you need is a pitman arm puller to pop off the tie rod and the lower spindle mount. Just loosen the castle nuts. Don't take them all the way off. It helps to put it on upside-down, actually, that helps keep the tool in place on the shaft.

Definitely use a torque wrench on the 4 bolts at least (can rent for free, too). They only require 59 ft lbs, which is lower than you might expect. Also make note of the bolt lengths (some are different lengths).

 

So you're saying I don't have to pull the brakes and hubs? Every video I've seen tells you that you have to take off the entire hub assembly. I do have a torque wrench, I read that 80 ft/lbs was the correct spec for the uppers.

Also, that freezer idea is genius. Metal contracts when cold. Got it.

 

+1 for the freezer trick. I read that somewhere else on here when I did mine and it made it soooo much easier. It fell right into place.

I also used a torch to heat the upper part of the spindle to expand it and make things even easier