So after weeks of reading, ordering parts, and more reading I started my journey. What a journey this is! First let me say you guys on this site are great and a very informative source. So with that said I NEED HELP LOL LOL! Not really but i think I need some advice. What i did notice is that my front end sucked major ****. First off all my ball joints bushings ohhhh they were gone it was just a glob of gooo. The end links bushings looked like old dry sponge it they were even there. So this is really really needed and cant wait to see how it handles after this!!!!

I followed alot of you guys instructions and right now after 7 hours i was able to break both sides free from ball joints, sway bar off, and one spring out. I tried the tricks of BFH to break joints but the pitman arm puller won with upper and the pickle won the lowers(lowering head in shame lol lol)

Now to some pics first one shows the nasty cleanup at the joints. Had to go through layers of dirt and grime. The second is a close up of the upper BJ if you can see there is like a metal hook on both sides. Can i pry these off or do i need to keep them?

Here is my first delimma, I took out the lower bj pretty easy with the tool. But putting this in is a beeeyotch. Tried twice so far and the second time I got it but its not all the way in what can I do? The pics show the tool set Up and how much is sticking out. As you'll see I. doing this with the LCA on the car . Should I take them off to press the joint in? And I'm not trying to start a "well since I'm doing this list" lol lol.

Last but not least just took a pic of the old spring vs new spring for ***** and giggles. I'll continue forward but I think I'm more nervous about getting the springs back in. I also found out the spring compressor i bought won't go through the shock hole. So going yo have to figure out my next steps but any and all comments will be much appreciated.

Thanks fellas!!!!!!

 

That greasy glob looks familiar I've always taken my A-arms into a machine shop to have the old ball joints removed and new ones installed. John

 

I'll admit the taking out was a piece of cake! Thus putting in is giving me the flux and strong arms lol lol.

 

Looks good so far!
Not sure what you mean by the metal hools in pic 2. All I know is that those ball joints need replacing!
You are gonna do bushings, right? While it is all apart already??

It looks like you bought HD springs. If so, there are easier to install than standards due to less length. I did not even use a compressor. See my front end rebuild link below for my methods...

 

Boy! Those BJ's look like their from another planet!

 

I did my lowers last week....And I used the tool that you are using!!!
Make sure the hole is nice and clean.....I also used some copper antiseize on the ball joint to help with pressing them in!!!!!

You realy have to make sure they are going in even all way around!!

Hope this hepls!!

 

That is the goal. However....
If they totally refuse, brute force and the press will get them in anyway. Been there done that...

 

LOL LOL DAMN IT ROB!!!!!!!! Yeah I pretty much got the same set up you did for your job and referenced your post. I really really didn't plan on doing the bushings and didn't purchase them so I'll sleep on that cause it would have to be two day shipping cause Im trying to ride this weekend it will be nice I'm chicago. I guess what ur saying is to take the lowers off and do the bushings . And my ball joints had more wiggle in then my johnson during the after pee shake lol lol they are bad and I drove on these !!!!!!!!!

 

If the bushings are anywhere as bad as those ball joints, then your handling will not be very good even after your repairs. My cars BJs were fine but the rubber bushings were shot. HUGE handling improvement afterwards!
Just do the bushings if they have over 10 years or 100k miles on them. 40 years of twist and rot is very bad for rubber. Rockauto has them, as well as other local stores. Insist on Moog parts - you will not be sorry.
I would hate for you to go through all this trouble and still not have the best handling you could have.

 

x1000

You've already gone through the trouble of taking the springs out... thats really the hardest part.

DO the bushings at the same time.

as for the bj... much easier out of the car... but even in the car, make sure #1 you are using a breaker bar on the BJ press,not a regular socket... #2, get a long lead pipe to put over the end of the breaker bar to add more leverage & make it easier to turn... then just crank down on that sucker until you see it seated from the backside.

You can do it on the car, its just a byotch due to the angles and trying to put the bj press on.

 

Peer Pressure is some BS !!!!! Ok back under the wheel well. Im doing the passenger side completely first since it will give me the total understanding of the job. Drivers side is prepped with ball joints already broke lose.

So 3 hours of work today and yup the upper and lower control arms are OUT!!!!! (pic1) Upper was pretty easy i had to snip a little off one bolt cause it couldnt pass the headers i have but it a looong bolt so it wont effect anything. NOW the lowers are some fnvbfkdmdbfjdmakuzbfbfkfj!!!! i dont understand how they put the one bolt point at the frame. It took me about 2 or the 3 hours to get the one bolt out cause they were rusted in the bushing. I couldnt get my regular sledge in there so i had to go buy a mini one and that still took forever and a day beating on it. Then even out some i had to pry the hell out of it! Ill probably have to buy new bolts cause they dont look to good (pic2). The bottom was the SOB i was fighting with.

With all that out yeeeeeeah im going to take them to this small shop that will press everything in for me for a couple of bucks. Now to my next scare the drivers side. I have two issues I see. Last (pic2) shows the UCA im really not sure how to get this out past the header and the steering shaft. I think if no steering shaft i could get away easier but have no idea how to do that. Also for the LCA yeah another bolt up against the frame BUT not onlyTHAT there is a curve to the header that cover the bolt head. Whats my next move cut i off with a sawsall??

Im really nervous about this other side. So shoot me some tips please

 

THe upper bolts are pressed into the frame. Take a long crowbar and a peice of wood- put the wood against the header, and then use the crowbar to pop the bolt out.

Seriously this is what the factory service manual recommends for removing it.

Don't try to twist them out- or you'll strip the knurling that holds them to the frame.

 

X2
Do NOT pry against the steery shaft - only against the manifold or block.
I think the book even said to rock the bolts up and down and around to help loosen them up some, before prying out. Have the nuts at the end to grab hold of.
Don't fret - they will come out.

Keep your alignment shims in order so you can replace them in the same places when done.
Those rusty bolts need replacing - grade 8 1/2 by 3.5 might be the magic size... That nasty one in your picture - did it come off the rear? Mine was like that cause the A/C dripped on it all the time.

Keep it up - you will like the way it drives after the rebuild!

BTW, what's for shocks? What springs did you get?

 

Not to hijack the thread (one question.....lol)

Rob, did you noticed much of a difference in ride height with the new HD springs? I'll be doing this same job and the rears next month, so I'll be watching this thread and your's.

 

Maybe an inch or so. The old springs and bushings were saggy, so that was most of the reason. I have not yet installed 45lbs of A/C stuff, so that accounts for a small fraction of it. In a nutshell, they do not raise it to a non-stock stance.

 

Rob
Im a copycat I got all the same parts you got. HD springs and those Bitz shocks.

 

Quick update! Passenger side CAs bushings done!!! Cost me $60 bucks but well worth the time it would have taken me. So tomorrow morning I rebuild the passenger side and continue drivers. Drivers has spring out LCA going to be harder to pull out cause i have to dismantle the header to get bolt out. So that is next on the agenda will take some pics once passenger side is done.

 

So I was quite successful today except i think my new lower ball joint is stripped. Im totally amazed that as soon as i got it put in and tried to put the castle nut on it went on turn and stopped. I looked at the other parts and it does look a but different. So im trying to not take the spring out again so my question is can i die the threads over again and put some deeper threads??????

Still having a fight with one bolt on the driver side LCA and pulling out the UCA.

Any help appreciated

 

Those castle nuts sometimes pinch inward at the top a little bit, which makes it hard to get them started... are you sure its stripped, not just a little stuck? try cleaning the threads on the balljoint & nut with a tap & die (not re cut, just clean).

as for the drivers side upper a-arm bolt... did you try popping it out with a bar?

another thing you can do... make a C-clamp into a G-clamp. get a large C-clamp- duct tape a short socket upside down on the top flange of the clamp- then you can stick it in, OVER the steering shaft, then tip it down, and as long as the socket is big enough, it will extend BACK under the steering shaft to sit on the end of the bolt.

THen stick another large socket over the top of the bolt head in the frame pocket and tighten down on the clamp- you'll press the bolt out of the frame. Its only got 1/8" worth of metal to come out of.

If you have a friend that has a mig welder handy, it may be easiest to weld the socket to the C-clamp, they tend to want to walk out from under the duct tape.

I've done this both ways, and the long pry bar is by far the easiest...

 

First of all dont force anything. When it stopped, were you using a wrench or your fingers?
Second, how does it look different? It is possible you or the shop could have caused minor damage to the threads when assembling it. A die could clean it up...
Do you have the right nut?? I have received parts where the included nuts included were totally wrong!

Ben, I like the c-clamp trick! To bad I am done now....

 

I was turning with my finger and it stopped then i put a socket on it and it turned the ball joint shaft. After looking at it, it looked different then the other LBJ in the fresh box. I also tried the nut on the other bj and it went fine. Ill try cleaning out with a tap and die see if that works