Dodge ball joints - What tool do I need

Nuzzy · Sep 28, 2008

Yes I know Dodge ball joints are hit and miss for ease of replacement. Well clearly mine have chosen the "miss" path...

I won't even get into the aggravation of getting the hub assembly off but it's off now.

I rented the C style ball joint tool from Autozone that people seem to have mixed luck with. I searched the Bomber board for tips and tricks, but have found myself stuck on the lower BJ. This ****er will not move. Already had to cut the threaded portion off just to be able to fit the tool around it. The lower is the one on a slight angle which makes using the C tool near impossible because it always seems to press sideways and slip. I tried shimming it. Tried using my own piece of tube as an adapter. Nothin. (I got a 3/4 drive ratchet with a breaker bar on this damn thing and it's still a no go cause of the angle...

Now I'm too far to go back, and stuck til I move forward. What tool (possibly hydraulic) do I need to move this bitch??

I really don't want to take the whole axle to a shop to have someone else do it. If I have to spend money, I'd rather it be on a tool than paying someone to do something I should be able to

Mother effing hub assembly finally off

I'm convinced this thing is the anti christ

As it sits

Nuzzy · Sep 28, 2008

Oh yeah, I'm already almost through a can of PB Blaster and haven't even touched the driver side yet

zukkev · Sep 28, 2008

If you're good with a 3Lb sledge--pound down on that flat spot<--- has worked every time for me to break 'em loose-->then use the 'antichrist':redneck: if you need to to press it the rest of the way out!Or just use a big drift punch and knock it the rest of the way out....

NotMatt · Sep 28, 2008

Torch. Works every time on stubborn ball joints. Just torch the bejesus out of the center of it, and the rest will just drop right out.

zukkev · Sep 28, 2008

A lil heat on it never hurts either--not too hot though, just enough to expand it slightly(doesn't take much...)...good call matt..

NotMatt · Sep 28, 2008

Yeah, torching the center out or at least heating up the C a bit to release the press fit seems to work good. Heck, you don't even need a "torch"... a mapp gas or propane torch would work to heat it up enough to break it free probably.

Plus, you get to play with fire, and that's always fun.

Here's a video of the last time Nuzzy got ahold of a propane torch...

[youtube]OMZkek99nog[/youtube]

zukkev · Sep 28, 2008

Fire,Fire,Fire!!!!:haha:

Nuzzy · Sep 29, 2008

I already hit the inner C with plenty o' propane and nuthin :booo:

Hopefully the antichrist will do better for me tomorrow when I'm starting fresh and not already pissed from 2 hours with the hub assembly...

zukkev · Sep 29, 2008

Nuzz, just knock that ****er out with a BFH!!!:redneck:

WHITE TRASH1 · Sep 29, 2008

Put the tool on as tight as you can get it, grab the torch and heat the C. Then a handfull of whacks with a sledge will break it free. Keep tightening the tool with every few whacks and it'll come apart handily.

Pat · Sep 29, 2008

Doing the BJ's on my buddys dodge a couple weeks ago the carnage count was one 1/2" breaker bar and two 1/2" ratchets (thank you Sears) with a 4 foot pipe trying to turn the c clamp tool.

PB Blaster then heat. then some more heat. Then crank that ****er as tight as you can and while its got tons of tension tap around the inner c with a hammer. Then repeat. Eventually it will pop loose, good luck.

Oh and I stuck a shop towel in the upper BJ hole to keep the tool straight and prevent it from scratching the machined surface.

TreeClimber · Sep 29, 2008

Nuzzy said:
I already hit the inner C with plenty o' propane and nuthin :booo:

Hopefully the antichrist will do better for me tomorrow when I'm starting fresh and not already pissed from 2 hours with the hub assembly...

Propane ain't heat.

Propane around 1100*
MAPP around 2400*
Oxyacetylene around 2700* to 3400*

you should be able to find a MAPP settup for really cheap. Available like the little propane torches.

Nuzzy · Sep 29, 2008

I am going to take whatever remains of this ball joint and put it on the side of the garage so I can piss on it every time I need to go.

Nuzzy · Sep 29, 2008

Pat said:
Oh and I stuck a shop towel in the upper BJ hole to keep the tool straight and prevent it from scratching the machined surface.

Too late... Ssshhhhh, don't tell anybody :redneck:

It's only a little nick :booo: :haha: :haha:

briejer · Sep 29, 2008

Do not be afraid to bash your truck as hard as you ****ing can with a very large sledge hammer. Get the removal tool pre-loaded pretty tight then smack the **** out of the outside of the inner C. Then smack the bitch harder.

Propane is not a shop tool. You need a real torch to have any real effect, whether it be to torch out the center of the old ball joint or heat up the inner C.

Once again, I am a believer in the sledge hammer. I know if you smack the outside of the C with some preload on the tool it will pop out. You're a decent sized man......imagine hitting it hard as you ****ing can... then hit it harder than that. Have no fear of the hammer, I repeat, HAVE NO FEAR OF THE BIG ****ING SLEDGE HAMMER...SMACK THAT BITCH!!!

Dan · Sep 29, 2008

had this same issue, heated it up red hot, beat the christ out of it ... couldnt get it, this old timer like 75]swung by my shop, had me crank the remover down and then blasted the cast iron knuckle on the tip with the sledge, it popped first swing, amazed me, i geuss the concosson realesed the tension on the taper, all i know is i beet on it with a 16 pound sledge and torched the **** out of it and got nowhere

NotMatt · Sep 29, 2008

Dan said:
had this same issue, heated it up red hot, beat the christ out of it ... couldnt get it, this old timer like 75]swung by my shop, had me crank the remover down and then blasted the cast iron knuckle on the tip with the sledge, it popped first swing, amazed me, i geuss the concosson realesed the tension on the taper, all i know is i beet on it with a 16 pound sledge and torched the **** out of it and got nowhere

I have a similar story for the first time I ever replaced a U-joint... my buddy and I were working on some old truck, needed to replace an axle shaft joint... we farted around with it for a while and didn't get anywhere... finally decided we needed to go see his grandpa, who had a press... walked down the street to his house, the old guy must have been at least 80 years old... he grabbed that thing, laid it across his bench vise, stuck an old weathered socket on the top, and just wailed on it, the thing popped right loose.

Afterwards, he was like "Yeah, you just can't be a *****"... that was classic.

Anyway Nuzzy, like Tony said, a MAPP gas torch is a lot hotter than propane is... and you can buy the little bottle setups the in the same section as the propane ones at any hardware store. You still can't do any cutting with them, but it will provide much more heat.

Heat that sucker up, put the tool on as tight as you can get it, and provide some brute force persuasion... it'll pop out.

Of course, if you don't have an oxy-acetaline torch setup, you need one... so you should buy one.

Nuzzy · Oct 1, 2008

Was rained out for a few days but kept hitting it with PB Blaster. Went out there today and it was almost too easy :eeek: Lower dropped out, and both new ones slid right in. Had some fun getting the hub assembly back on because I had accidentally oblonged one of the threaded holes during the sledge attacks, but it finally went.

However, I will not be attempting the drivers side until my sanity returns. Luckily the pass side had the REALLY bad ones...