OK so if some can guide me through the process of changing or any advice would me very helpfull so far i have every thing taken apart to the wheel hup that is taken out but know iam lost on how to make the press fit to get the ball joint out. do you need to take the control arm apart or am i just using the tool wrong ??

 

I did the lower ball joint on a set of S-type knuckles about a month ago.
I had my knuckles out of the car.

1. You do need the hub removed.
2. It is difficult, perhaps impossible to remove the lower ball joint using a press.
3. I went down to AutoZone and borrowed their ball-joint removal kit. ($100 deposit)
4. I found out that the tool is not wide enough to accommodate the S-types joint.
5. Since I was installing new ones, I removed the rubber boot, got out my high speed metal cutter and cut off the shaft as close as I could to the outer socket of the joint socket pressed into the knuckle. After cutting off the shaft, the tool fit fine and I readily/easily pressed it out with the standard ball joint remover.
6. Installing the new one wasn't to bad, but I had to use a spacer to let the new shaft on the ball joint clear on the end/threads when the ball joint was pressed in about 2/3s of the way.

If you plan on doing it yourself with a standard ball joint remover, plan it out first and make sure you have sleeves and spacers available to press it back in, because once you cut off the shaft,there is no going back.

Larger ball joint removal tools are available, but harder to find, and cost a lot more, if you decide or can'd cut off the shaft.

 

Do not use a ball joint press. Remove the lower control arm and take to someone that has the proper hydraulic press. With Aluminum control arms you need to be very careful when pressing the old off and pressing the new on. Everything must be perfectly straight or you will distort the control arm. They are too expensive to risk it.
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Did you read the faqs to start with?

Do a search first instead of opening a post which has been discussed before

 

yea i did search and found nothing so calm down, and thanks guys and yea i found that one out i got the tool and didnt fit ended up taking it to a shop but that cone shaped washer does it go in that divet with the ball joint when i took off the control arm it dropped with it and didnt get a chance to see exactly where it was sitting but i have an idea on how it goes

 

I did a search and turned up more than two pages of mostly useful threads.
Maybe you could try it?
An intro post is always encouraged.

 

maybe i searched it wrong then and nothing i found answered the questions i had

 

I also searched for ball joint threads & found nothing. So I was very glad of this thread & it's links. Not all of us have been here for years, & wading through the wealth of information available doesn't always yield the right results.

 

Really? I had no problem at all pressing in a the new ball joints using a standard ball joint press. No alignment issues at all. Each one pressed in straight with smooth steady force. Piece of cake. - I have a 20 ton press with many different plates and fixtures and I found it much more difficult to try to fixture the odd shape of the S-type knuckle in the press. There was no way I was going to purchase special ball joint fixtures for my press or take it to a shop for such an easy job.

(Pressing out/in the bearing assembly in the rear hub carrier was a much more tedious/difficult job than the lower ball joints. Corrosion issues with the bearing housing being stuck and alignment issues going in, and this is with a press. -One bearing exploded and the ***** went flying, before I was able to get the housing pressed out.)

(One has to be much more delicate with the upper A-arm ball joint replacement. After changing these with my press, I can see why they sell the complete assembly! The alloy used in the A-arms seems to be a lot softer than that used in the knuckles, and these were much harder to keep aligned during initial press in)

I also searched the forum before I replaced mine and I didn't find anything helpful. (Other than the "take it to a shop" comments)

 

if any one was interested i did find the vertical control arm for like 240 with ball joint if you didnt want to mess with pressing it out its was through rock auto and does any one know the awnser to my washer question i would just like to confirm it went back in the correct spot

 

If you look in the FAQs you'll find a parts catalogue, there may be a diagram there.

 

i found the part in the catalogue but didnt show that washer

 

I wasn't being cryptic, that was my best guess.
Hopefully someone will know, maybe a picture would help, I'm having a hard time imagining where a washer would go on the ball joint.

 

Glad it pressed out well for you. More than a few people have tried it on car without much luck.

Now if we could only get ALL the ball joints separately so we can stop replacing the entire suspension arm!!
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As far as I know there is no washer on the lower ball joint. Perhaps there might be one on a replacement ball joint that goes below the lock nut. (OEM ball joints have a washer built into the lock nut.)

Image of an original ball joint on left and rebuillt on the right.

 

yea i know what you mean but when i took it off one feel out with it and my new ball joint even came with one so i dont know i have it all done and the car drives great now i just wanted to confirm it was in the right spot