Rear Ball Joint Replacement ?

[ccec]

Well, here I am in the middle of trying to change out the rear suspension ball joint on my coil-sprung '93 LWB -- it's been knocking since I bought the rig seven years ago and is finally to the point where I have enough gumption to knuckle down and do the job.

Anyone done this before?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. The nut holding the ball joint to the rear axle seems to be around 1 3/16" -- tough to get a "spanner" ;) around it with the gas tank so close.

Thanks,

ccec

[KevinNY]

Start soaking it daily in penetrating oil for a few days beforehand. I was able to tap a socket onto the big nut and hit it with an impact to spin the nut off. Then give the housing a good whack with a big hammer to free the ball joint. I removed the 2 bolts that hold the center piece to the arms first. Then you can get a machine shop to press the ball joint out and back in.

[ccec]

Thanks for that... I'm on the soaking program and found a 30 mm combo wrench at Sears for $22 that fits the big castle nut perfectly. That nut is REALLY on there.

--ccec

[KevinNY]

Get yourself a 3" length of pipe and it will come right off.

[rover4x4]

Did you remove the entire A Frame? How hard was it to get things put back together? Did the axle wrap much?

[ccec]

Project put on hold until I show up at my buddies garage with huge lifts, tools, etc. Will report in when complete...

--ccec