Changing lower ball joints

[pdrmike]

Can you change the lower ball joints on an 08 Nytro with out taking off the a arm, or are they pressed in and require a little more work? Thanks in advance!

 

[stopdropanroll]

Take the a-arms off. They are easy to get out in a vise or press, just be careful not to press the ball out of the race, unless your installing new ones or NCI rings.

 

[ralger]

There is a lot of variation from sled to sled on how "easy" the come out. I wrecked my firast vice so had to get a bigger one - took a 4' cheater bar to get it out. Others have had no issue.

 

[arteeex]

Since you've asked; there is a third option. But as a word of caution, you will risk damaging/destroying the existing ball joint due to the force required to remove them from some a-arms.

The method I used was to run a long bolt thru the ball assembly from the top. From below I installed a large diameter socket (anything similar that will span the bore and support a significant load should work) on the bolt and cinched this up with a nut. After making sure the threaded element was reasonably square with the bore I began tightening the nut. When there was some tension on the bolt I gave it a few good whacks and then tightened up it up again. If I remember correctly I did this step a few times before the bits budged. Once the race began to move it was relatively easy to knock it out of the bore completely.

The downside to this method is you may pull the ball out and leave the race in the bore. If this happens you'll need to get busy with a hammer and punch or a small abrasive cut-off wheel and a few choice words.

Good luck.

 

[pdrmike]

The method I used was to run a long bolt thru the ball assembly from the top. From below I installed a large diameter socket (anything similar that will span the bore and support a significant load should work) on the bolt and cinched this up with a nut. After making sure the threaded element was reasonably square with the bore I began tightening the nut. When there was some tension on the bolt I gave it a few good whacks and then tightened up it up again. If I remember correctly I did this step a few times before the bits budged. Once the race began to move it was relatively easy to knock it out of the bore completely.


Good luck.

And I assume you can reverse this method to install? Thanks for the help!

 

[gapl1953]

Can you change the lower ball joints on an 08 Nytro with out taking off the a arm, or are they pressed in and require a little more work? Thanks in advance!

I do them without taking off the control arms. My 08 Nytro has a cir-clip holding them in. Once that was removed I used my automotive ball joint removal tools and they came right out. Not to bad of a job 1 hour should take care of both sides.
Greg

 

[arteeex]

And I assume you can reverse this method to install? Thanks for the help!

You can. Just make sure that you're pushing/pulling on the race not the ball. Use a socket just slightly smaller than the race and use care to get the race going in straight to the bore.

 

[bradthebest]

c clamps and assortment of sockets