Upper Ball joint removal

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

alright car is a 96 dodge stratus ES, with a v6

im trying to replace the upper ball joint. According to the manual and shopkey they are not replacable by themselves and you have to remove the whole upper control arm..

i go to autozone to order the part, and they have it in stock and its just a regular ball joint...

I look at the control arm and did a google search and it says that they are pressed in...

is there any way to get them out and put in the new ones without a press?

I would hate to have to remove the whole upper control arm (you have to pull out the whole strut assembly because the springs are in the way of the bolts coming out)

and some pictures

Click to read more...

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

it has to be pressed out

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

fucking a...

know of any places?

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

Any auto repair place should have one. Bring it in and offer them $15 to press it out and press the new one in

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

You could probably cut the old one off actually. Getting the new one in without damaging it may be pretty hard to do though with no press

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

any ideas on removing those top bolts without removing the strut?

 

[slowchevy]

these ?

I don't think there is a way without removing them. Can you get a closer picture from deeper inside the fenderwell ? There may be but I highly doubt it

 

[WhiteDevil]

get the strut out of the way. itll be alot easier to R&R the upper arm. any muffler shop can press em.they usually do suspensions too. id offer em $20 bucks

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Well i have 2 choices...

remove the strut, then the arm, get it pressed out, pressed in.

or according to shopkey, you can use a ball joint puller to get them out...

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

dont they make ball joint presses? i swear they do....

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002SRGXY/?tag=tcg21-20


see if you can rent one at autozone.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

ya autozone rents those.. i can try it, or i can just remove the 4 bolts to get the strut out and get the upper control arm out.

then i could replace those bushings while its out.... decisions lol

 

[Dasfinc]

ya autozone rents those.. i can try it, or i can just remove the 4 bolts to get the strut out and get the upper control arm out.

then i could replace those bushings while its out.... decisions lol

I'm laugh my ass off if you do all this suspension work and the trans drops after a week.

*I hope it doesn't, but fuck that'd be funny*

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

funny u mention that

the trans gasket is leaking a VERY tiny bit... like a drop or 2 a day i picked up a new gasket and filter..

i think they flooded the trans, because when i check the level its wayyy high