Stuck upper balljoint

[TexRex]

I was trying to replace the upper control arm on my 15 Ram and I have thrown every hammer (that I can swing at it) separator tool (with air) and can’t get it to break free. I’ve done them a few times before on older Dodges but never had this much trouble. Any suggestions?

 

[crazykid1994]

I’m assuming this is front upper control arms. The preferred proper methods are your ball joint separator. That should work no problem of done properly. In a time of need I jacked my truck up, pulled the tire. Lowered it so the frame was sitting on a jack stand. Lifted the spindle with my floor jack then slipped a piece of rigid pipe cut to length between the upper control arm and the ground just behind the ball joint. Then lowered the spindle so the weight was on the rigid pipe. Truck frame still on the jack stand. Took a mini sledge and a wood block and smacked the spindle down. Leave the nut for the ball joint on about halfway up so the spindle doesn’t drop completely. This is completely not the right way to do it. Do not hit the spindle directly with the sledge or you could shatter the spindle.

 

[TexRex]

It is the Front upper arm and I assume that I have done the steps properly, used a floor jack on the frame, jack stands, tire off, ball joint nut removed almost all the way, large dead blow hammer striking the side around ball joint...nothing. Has anyone had this happen to them where it is completely seized?

 

[kurek]

You're hitting the boss on the side, at 90 degrees to the joint? That's always worked for me even on badly rusted dudes as long as there is some force pulling them (even gently) apart.

 

[TexRex]

Yes, and way more times than I have ever had to. Worked my way up to an air chisel with a fork and it won’t budge

 

[Fuel35 67]

Did you loosen the nut?

 

[TexRex]

Damn I knew I forgot something....

Yes I loosened the nut

any other helpful advice?

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

If all else fails put a hot wrench on it (oxyaccelene) or Map Gas, and a dead plow hammer is not going to deliver a good blow of the spindle area, go to Harbor Freight and put a mini sledge on it, best of luck

 

[kurek]

Yes, and way more times than I have ever had to. Worked my way up to an air chisel with a fork and it won’t budge

Crazy man, like assuming you're hitting it the way I'd be hitting it... they just come apart like magic. Northeast trucks, Michigan trucks, Arizona trucks.. all of them.

I don't want to insult you at all, I am like 99% sure you're doing it the right way based on your description but in the interest of trying to help - you're hitting it exactly like what's shown in this video (except upper ball joint... well, all cone seats work the same way) ??
When I'm junkyarding 90's mitsubishi front axle assemblies all I bring with for ball joints is a little framing hammer and I've never come home empty handed. Same trick took my Ram front end apart several times.

Oh, yeah and I wouldn't be using a dead blow... brass hammers are great for this or if you don't mind a little bit of cosmetic damage you can just wail on it with a steel hammer. You want to take that round cone shape and "ring it like a bell" , make it get all warbly from the impact. That's what makes it let go!

Please wear eye and ear protection though, ANY time you're hitting anything with a hammer on a car!!

 

[R.L.K.]

Heat is your friend , a heat gun or a small bottle torch .
Try to concentrate the heat on the part you want to expand ....only hot enough that you can't touch it for more than 2-3 seconds then use the separator right away .

Hope this helps !

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[TexRex]

Crazy man, like assuming you're hitting it the way I'd be hitting it... they just come apart like magic. Northeast trucks, Michigan trucks, Arizona trucks.. all of them.

I don't want to insult you at all, I am like 99% sure you're doing it the right way based on your description but in the interest of trying to help - you're hitting it exactly like what's shown in this video (except upper ball joint... well, all cone seats work the same way) ??
When I'm junkyarding 90's mitsubishi front axle assemblies all I bring with for ball joints is a little framing hammer and I've never come home empty handed. Same trick took my Ram front end apart several times.

Oh, yeah and I wouldn't be using a dead blow... brass hammers are great for this or if you don't mind a little bit of cosmetic damage you can just wail on it with a steel hammer. You want to take that round cone shape and "ring it like a bell" , make it get all warbly from the impact. That's what makes it let go!

Please wear eye and ear protection though, ANY time you're hitting anything with a hammer on a car!!

I appreciate the advice, and I’m not insulted at all. I have done these before, not my first dodge pickup...but it’s not something I do everyday. I did hit the side just like that, tried a steel hammer on it and nothing, what worries me is the ball joint separator didn’t work with a air hammer. That has always done the trick on the really stuck ones.
I may have had it in a bind, I was trying to install a level kit as well, so I had most everything removed, tie rod, sway bar link. Could this have caused a bad angle that kept the ball joint wedged in the boss? Could I have messed up where the ball joint seats? Thanks again for all the help

 

[kurek]

I can't imagine a cone seat getting itself wedged any other way than the way they're designed to wedge into each other - the profile extends past the interface so there's no edge to form the "wedge".

When you're hammering it, you've got something supplying pressure to separate them as well? There are no droop stops on the UCA to promote that separating force on its own. The force of course doesn't need to be much but it needs to be there to remind it which direction you want it to go while you're hitting the boss. Again this is probably elementary for you.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Use your heat gun on high and heat up the portion of the hub you'll hamering down, then hammer away.
Some more ideas, in this case is a stuck lca but you mentioned to had a pitch fork, wedge it below the boot and hammer the hub. i don't know at this point if you care for the BJ or not but it doesn't seem like it.

 

[VelocityC6Z]

Mine was seized, bad... same problem as you. I used pb blaster, torches... didn't work with the old hammer method, mind you I hit it with the force of Thor.

I bought Kano aerocroil. Ended up getting it loose enough with a screwdriver, ramming a pickle fork in there, using more aerokroil, torched the **** out if the control arm, icing the ball joint, hammering the side with a 5 pound hammer with a buddy lifting the lower control arm and another jamming the pickle fork while I was hitting the side of the ball joint... we eventually broke it loose.

The passenger side, popped off with one good hit with my dead blow hammer..... unreal.

 

[TexRex]

Mine was seized, bad... same problem as you. I used pb blaster, torches... didn't work with the old hammer method, mind you I hit it with the force of Thor.

I bought Kano aerocroil. Ended up getting it loose enough with a screwdriver, ramming a pickle fork in there, using more aerokroil, torched the **** out if the control arm, icing the ball joint, hammering the side with a 5 pound hammer with a buddy lifting the lower control arm and another jamming the pickle fork while I was hitting the side of the ball joint... we eventually broke it loose.

The passenger side, popped off with one good hit with my dead blow hammer..... unreal.

Well I’m glad I’m not the only one. As much as I didn’t want anyone else to have the same issue, I was hoping someone else had encountered a similar issue. Thanks for the input and tips, I’m gonna try it again this weekend and post an update. What is Kano Aerocroil and where would I find it?

 

[G-Ride990]

https://www.amazon.com/Kano-Aerokroil-Penetrating-aerosol-AEROKROIL/dp/B000F09CEA

Just a type of penetrating oil. I happen to love how it smells lol. Works really well too.

Good luck man, I think all of us that work on cars have been there before. Not much to add in things to try.

Not sure if was mentioned already or not but the knuckles on our trucks are stamped do not hit aren't they? I think I remember seeing that on mine when I put my zones on.

 

[VelocityC6Z]

Yea, it does smell better than most lol.

I replaced my upper control arms as well, with the rough country's. So I wasn't too concerned about destroying the stock upper control arms. If I were keeping the stock I wouldn't have been as rough, and I probably never would have got the old ones off.

I remember the second time I took it off, and just prying the spindle and upper control arm apart at that ball joint. I vaguely remember when we would move the upper control arm up and down, a little gap would open between the ball joint and the spindle. We ended up putting pressure on the upper control arm to get some space, then crammed a screwdriver or something between the ball joint and spindle, then used a jack on the lower control arm, lifting the lower control arm and breaking the ball joint loose... seemed a bit sketchy, but the truck was firmly planted, and it worked.

Maybe give that a shot too?

 

[TexRex]

Update!
I used everything I could think of, all the advice I got on here, bigger hammer, heat, lots of penetrating oil (and a cold beer, that was my idea) and broke it free.
Thanks again for all the tips. Hope no one else ever has to deal with the same issue. Now for some bigger tires and back behind the wheel.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Put a light coat of antisieze on the new/old BJs before you torque them down to specs. That way they should come out easy next time.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

You don't really want to put antisieze on the taper when you torque it down it could allow it to suck up further in the taper, and you'll get a inaccurate torque reading.