Ball Joint Selection and Removal of Knuckle

Searched and haven't found exactly what I'm looking for...so here goes

First: Best way to get the knuckles off the axle...Pickle fork (TRE type separator) or the brass hammer method (listed on madxj's site)??? Not sure which way to go? What about heat?

Second: I've seen many different ball joints listed online, which should I get? I've seen the pricey ones, seen the really cheap ones, there are some listed as kits at quadratec.com, there's another kit that I found searching here listed as spicer ball joints (although it doesn't state their quality). What have people put in?

It's a 98 stock setup.

Thanks everyone

I use a 3# baby sledge hammer and strike true and flat at the point as close to the ball joint where the steering arm goes up. a brass or copper hammer is also good but will take a few more swings to drive it off. I haven't had a knuckle break on me yet and I've done quite a few.

I pull cotter pins back nuts down to just flush with the to of ball stud on both upper and lower, then I use a hammer, brass if yo like and smack the upper and lowwer like twice and it ussuallt just falls against the nuts and then I take off the knuckle. The tough part is the balljoints themselves. You'll need a ball joint press to push out the old and push in the new.
I used the Spicer ones for my stock daily driver. They are built pretty good at a good price.
CP

interesting. most D30's do not have a coter pin on the lower ball but I might be thinking of something else. Also, the balljoints themselves are pressed into the inner C and not the knuckle. so hitting the ball would be swinging up and trying to hit the inner C. while D44 knuckles have the balljoints pressed into the knuckles. But this is D30 stuff so... and the 98' is a HP D30.
And the better trick to backing out the castle nuts is to remove them and use a brass or copper hammer as it will not mar the threads. But if its something that is going to be replaced anyways then just remove the nut and beat the hell out of it with the heaviest tool of persuision you can swing with one hand and strike true. for me its a 3# baby sledge.

To dislodge the knuckles (after removing all the hardware,) I get out the hammers. There's a 4# cross-peen that I rest on the striking surface (the cross-peen - narrow - side) and then a 5# shorty sledge that I whack the cross-peen with. Wear safety glasses! My cross-peen has chipped under this treatment...

If you want to take a week to pull them, go ahead and use a pickle fork. I understand that there are some screw-ram presses that work rather well - but I don't have one, so I can't say.

If you have a great deal of trouble, you can heat up the ears of the knuckle (do not heat the studs!) to open up the tapered bores.

When you reinstall the knuckle, paint the tapered part of the stud with never-seez first - since it will help you next time.

I've used Moog and Crown Automotive ball joints with good results. You can get Crown parts from Morris 4x4 Center - www.morris4x4center.com or www.cyberjeep.com - I think they're transferring domains. You may have a local vendor for Crown, and you should have no trouble finding Moog parts locally as well.

Before you press in the new ball joints, paint the cannister with never-seez as well (makes them go in easier. Probably makes them easier to remove as well.)

Don't cheap out on the press. I got the HF press, and bent the damn thing. Spent the money on an OTC (which I should have done in the first place - $80, vice $40) and it changed all four ball joints in the time it took me to bend the Harbour Freight unit... I found the OTC through ToolTopia via Amazon.com

I actually use both the pickle-fork and hammer. You use the pickle-fork to get the joint all stressed up, and then hit the knuckle with mini-sledge and it should pop right off.

I never found the pickle fork necessary, because the weight of the knuckle is downward.

Second the "good press" part. When I did mine, I got to that point on one joint where I was running out of torque, and even the OTC press felt as if it was about to break, before it suddenly went "pop" and the joint started moving. I don't think I'd have managed with a cheap press.

Anyone every have any experience with these ball joints from spicer? They come as a kit and they are so cheap I'm worried they are comparable to their "red-service-grade"

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-997...s_dana_30.html

Otherwise I'll prolly just use Moog, I don't think I want to do this again for a while

I've been running those for over a year now and no problems. If you don't want to buy a press, just rent them from vato-zone or checker for free. Not the best quality, but what do I care. They're rentals. I stripped one set and took it back. They just took it and gave me another one! X2 on never-seize. Its your friend!

rockjockphatts said:

Anyone every have any experience with these ball joints from spicer? They come as a kit and they are so cheap I'm worried they are comparable to their "red-service-grade"

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-997...s_dana_30.html

Otherwise I'll prolly just use Moog, I don't think I want to do this again for a while

Click to expand...

i've bought a few sets from ceompleteoffroad. they seem to hold up well

As you are pressing the ball joints in, when the press binds up, hit the knuckle with a hammer. This relieves the stress between the joint and the knuckle. After that you will get about 1/4 turn of the wrench and repeat with the hammer.

One thing that helps get the knucke off is to put a jack stand as close to the end of the axle as possilbe. I usually smack it with my BFH like others mentioned.

I rent the balljoint press from Auto Zone. Well worth it. I've been thinking about just buying one because it comes in handy for u-joints and other jobs. I used the sleeves to help get the bearings out of my T-case when I rebuilt.

rockjockphatts said:

Anyone every have any experience with these ball joints from spicer? They come as a kit and they are so cheap I'm worried they are comparable to their "red-service-grade"

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-997...s_dana_30.html

Otherwise I'll prolly just use Moog, I don't think I want to do this again for a while

Click to expand...

Those are the good ones from Spicer.

thanks guys