I wanted to remove the upper ball joints as I was going to install the All-Pro 1 inch uniball upper control arms. Before I tried to take the upper ball joint out of the new Tuff Country spindle, I decided to practice on a few of the factory ones to see just how hard it would be. I used two spindles that had come off my truck when I did the Tuff Country lift. They were about 3 years old at this point, so I figure that the new Tuff Country ones that are only 3-4 months old will come out easier. This is how I removed the upper ball joints on my truck. This is a method that is for ball joints that you are going to throw away! You are going to damage them during the removal! |
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The
first step is to remove the dust boot. It is held on by a
small piece of wire that you can either untwist or cut.
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Once
the wire is cut, you can slip the dust boot off.
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Once
the boot is off, I wiped off the excess grease.
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There
is a snap ring that also keeps the ball joint from slipping down and out
of the spindle. It remove it, I pressed it back then got a
screwdriver behind it and snapped it off.
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I found that a 7/8 deep socket fits nicely over the ball joint. Make sure that it is a Craftsman socket. You may hurt it during the process and need it replaced! :) |
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With the socket on the ball joint, I hammered it out. I could see that it was moving after just a few hits. It was actually way easier than I thought it was going to be to pound it out. I live in Northern California. I think that if you lived in an area where they salted the roads and such that it may be much harder to remove. |
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I have been told to use LOTS of anti seize when I put in the new ball joint.
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The small ring slips off, I did that before I pounded on it with the socket. You can now throw away the old ball joint and install the new one. |
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7-21-2004 |