Im a little nervous about it, and a little irritated. I just had the whole front end apart 2 months ago and replaced the springs and struts... and this weird clunky noise from the driver's front has cropped up and it's getting worse. All the bolts are tight, and I'm thinking it's the ball joint.

I was reading in my chilton's manual about how to do it and it says:

1. raise and support vehicle, remove wheel
2. support lower control arm spring perch with a jack
3. Loosen ball nut stud, break ball nut stood loose, remove nut
4. Remove ball stud from steering knuckle, support knuckle somehow
5. Use press to remove lower ball joint



Now I was under the impression I was going to need to remove the brake rotors and even the struts from the spindle and basically get everything out of the way to do this right... Is this manual just neglecting to mention that becuase it's obvious, or can it really be done while leaving the caliper, rotor, and strut mounts alone?


Also, roughly how expensive are these ball joint removal tools?

 

It can be done leaving everything in place but the rotor and strut kind of get in the way. You'll have to get the calipers off to get to the strut mount bolts. I'd remove the strut if you've got a gun to loosen the top nut. You can work around the rotor.

Before you loosen anything you can place a jackstand under the a-arm. Just make sure you leave room for the remover/installer tool. The tool can be gotten from AZ as a loaner.

A lot of folks have trouble cranking on the tool to tighten it during the install. I've found it helps to hold the threaded rod in place with a wrench and whack the side of the "C" with a mallet to tighten it in.

 

I dont have a gun so I guess I'll try to improvise. I just dont like the idea of the spring being ready to pop out at any minute, but I guess even if the a-arm is fully extended the spring wont realy pop out unless you force it.

And then I was trying to avoid having to jack the a-arm back up to the strut again, that was kind of a PITA last time.

So can it be done while leaving the strut in place?

 

Yes. If you had problems jacking the a-arm up before you may want to put a spring compressor (also available at AZ) into the spring and tighten it up before you lower the a-arm (or release the spindle bolt). Compressor will also add a safety factor. Keep a jack stand under it either way.

 

I replaced the balljoints when I redid the whole front suspension and steering. My a-arms were removed from the car to replace other stuff. I picked up the loaner tool from AZ and the easy part was getting the balljoints out.... the really really difficult part was getting the balljoints in. No matter how straight they started out they always tipped and started going crooked. I finally gave up and took them to a shop. To be honest if I was in your shoes I would rent the spring compressor tool, take the a-arm off and have a shop press the balljoints in and out. If a-arm bushings haven't been replaced you might consider replacing those while its apart.

 

So can it be done with the struts still mounted?

 

Yes, it can be done with the struts still in place.