[Bammer25]

I popped the ball joint loose but now that castle but just spins and spins. What am I doing wrong?


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[Bammer25]

The ball joint rod is going along for the ride. I'm going to end up stranded if I can't figure this out


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[jwcgmc1985]

you have to put pressure on the stud somehow so it gets into a bind, enough for your to turn the castle nut

if its on jack stands (im not sure what your situation looks like right now) but if you can put a jack under it and get it to put itself into a mind, or use a pry bar to put pressure on it somewhere, that might work..

i hate spinning ball joint studs, but i've always walked away with victory :thumb

 

[Bammer25]

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[Bammer25]

I'm dying here


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[SoCalMike]

Cut the stud by the nut

 

[SoCalMike]

Or cut the nut and split it

 

[Bammer25]

one more thing for when i do the other side

why do all the directions say to only take the nut partially off? if i had taken it all the way off, i wouldnt have had any trouble. i supported the a arm/hub assembly with a jack as shown above.

if i attempt this again, is this the route to go?

 

[SoCalMike]

one more thing for when i do the other side

why do all the directions say to only take the nut partially off? if i had taken it all the way off, i wouldnt have had any trouble. i supported the a arm/hub assembly with a jack as shown above.

if i attempt this again, is this the route to go?

When you take the nut partially off you can let the suspension hang. The UCA will stop at the frame stop and you can hit the knuckle with a hammer to separate the ball joint from the knuckle and the nut will stop the LCA from falling to the ground. Just put a jack under the LCA barely touching the LCA.

 

[jwcgmc1985]

wait lets start over

what exactly are you doing...

just changing ball joints, or upgrading UCA's?!

 

[Bammer25]

That makes sense. Thanks. Sorry to blow you guys up. I'm not very suspension savvy.

I am putting on cognito UCAs and ball joints. I separated the ball joint from the factory UCA. Now that it is unseated I can't get the nut off.

It appears what I should have done is just have the Jack ready to keep it from hitting the floor. But by supporting it I prevented the necessary tension needed to take the nut off.

 

[jwcgmc1985]

ahhhhhh ok then!

yeah do what he said

 

[Bammer25]

so now that it is unseated, is there any way to get it bound up to take the nut off? if i take the wheel back off and just let the thing hang, will it come off?

i really dont want to take my truck to a shop and drop 300-400 labor on something like this

 

[SoCalMike]

You will need to seat the ball joint stud and keep pressure on it to keep the stud from rotating.
Next time if the ball joint stud and nut are rusty do this. Place the jack under the LCA and jack it up a little so there is good pressure on the suspention for safety , then fully remove the ball joint nut. Then reinstall the nut and separate the ball joint from the knuckle.

BTW at the bottom of the ball joint stud it it hollow and have a hex key insert? If so find a Allen key that fits to hold the stud while you remove the nut

 

[mray]

I usually take the nut all the way off and then thread it back on before popping it lose seems to help with this kind of problem.

 

[Bammer25]

Thanks for the replies.

What are you guys doing in between taking the nut off and breaking the joint loose? Are you taking the bolts off the frame and eccentric washers?

 

[SoCalMike]

Nope. After you get the ball joint stud to separate from the knuckle support the lower control arm with a jack. Tie up the knuckle with something so it does not hang by the CV and tie rod and lower ball joint.
Remove nut from ball joint and lift up UCA so it's not attached to knuckle. Now take the bolts off the frame and remove stock uca's.

 

[Bammer25]

Now that my ball joint is unseated and the nut is spinning it, my only options are cut the ball joint bolt or pray that I have an Allen wrench hole in the bottom of it, correct?

 

[SoCalMike]

Yes..... You can try to cut just the nut off. Hacksaw or sawzaw will be your friend for this job or a cut off wheel. Do you have stock uca's ?

 

[Bammer25]

Yep. I have a sawzall. I broke my breaker bar. If I can't get the bolts off the frame I'll be in deep doo doo if I have already broken the ball joint bolt out.

Time to get to work