ive been in the process of changing out the ball joints on my 95 yota. and realized the upper ones are a MAJOR PAIN. Im almost positive it was the original ball joints, so they was in there good. i figured i would make this thread to help those who plan to do this and save them the aggravation i went through.

i did alot of research for way to pull them and we figured this one out and the only one that would work. Tried a pickle fork with no luck. heres the easy steps-


1- keep upper bolts in upper BJ tight
2- take off bottom nut that attaches to knuckle along with cottor pin
3- take a hi-lift jack and put the arm of it under the upper control arm and jack it up a little to
relieve pressure
4- take a mallet and beat the fooey out of the steering knuckle
5- watch the knuckle drop off and take a deep breath
6- apologize to the toyota for calling it all names you just called it

I beat on them for one hour witha pickle fork a week ago with no luck. Yea, that coudl have loosened them a little, but i believe this is the easiest way. maybe not the best, but the upper joint will pop loose in a minute with agood beatin. hope this helps someone

 

A two jaw tie rod end puller couldn't have done the same thing?

 

Or use one of these. Works great!

 

im sure it could have, but this is a way with out any special tools

 

Well I've done four this year alone. Two prong tool & big hammer and they came out like a charm. Dropped the lower ball joints first, then popped the uppers. Put in uppers, then lifted the assembly back into position and attached to new upper ball joint, then replaced lower ball joint. done with both sides in four hours or so. Sore as hell, but all done. later I did all four tie rod ends.

 

yea i tried the two prong deal and no worky for me, i beat it to death. then got a hammer and went to town and down she went

 

Yup; a smack upside the joint works too! Shouldn't have to beat on it too much, a few smacks with a five pound hammer is about normal.

 

A "pickle fork" is a crutch for amateurs. Use it only on pickles; it should never be anywhere near your truck.

 

Why; I'm not saving it. Besides there is a bit of a trick to smacking it properly. Well practiced do it in one shot, but I'm rusty as hell.

 

a pickle fork is a waste of a tool , i always get ball joints apart with a couple of hits from a hammer , no matter how tough they are in . the key is to hit the part that they are attached to .

 

now im stuck on the lowers, bought a pitman arm puller. piece of junk. the jaws on it rounded off and it slipped off the knuckle ever time. it also screw the bolt up, it mush roomed the edge of it out. i had to take a grinder to it just to get a bolt back on it. any ideas? i heated it up no luck. believe i will take it to a shop im tired of messin with it

 

I can barely make out your 6 steps from the brite yellow letters.

 

Next time, use a C-Clamp to prevent the jaws from bending. Then use a breaker bar to turn the bolt on the pitman arm puller.

Also, I keep the castle nut on at the end of the thread so the knuckle has room to drop and I don't accidently mushroom it.

This is on my pitman arm, but you get the idea. Works everytime, just make sure you are centered on the balljoint. Also, if its really old, maybe give it a few taps with a hammer as you go.


I do the same with the upper ball joints, but I unbolt the steering arms to have more room for the puller.

Here's a write-up I did:
http://www.cruiserinnovations.com/fo...ce-Ball-Joints

 

yea, a c clamp would have been a good idea, never thought of that