Upper ball Joint replacement.

[rgogan]

158,600 mi on my coach. Doing wheel bearing servicing on the the front end today. I have already replaced the driver's side upper ball joint that
wore out. The passenger side ball joint is fine regarding tolerances but the boot is torn. I ordered a new Moog upper ball joint from Jim K and
noticed that the new joint comes with a separately attachable boot.

Two points:
1) The boot is not sealed to the joint in any way. You can add as much grease as you want and there is no danger in rupturing a sealed boot as some
in this forum have expressed concern.
2) Do I drill the factory original upper ball joint rivets out and replace the entire joint as long as I am here or do I just replace the boot?
3) I did find a site that sells the boot alone.

I am stuck again as I was last time I did this job in separating the upper ball joint taper from the knuckle. The service manual wants me to pry up
on the upper control arm and hit the Knuckle housing taper with a brass drift. I cannot find a brass drift anywhere in Milwaukee and just ordered a
set on line. I have been prying and hitting the Knuckle housing with a brass hammer but it may not be hefty enough.
Any suggestions on pulling this tapered joint apart? I cannot remember how I did it the last time.

 

[rgogan]

Just checked my replacement upper ball joint with the new boot. One cannot install a new boot without drilling out the rivets from the factory boot
and removing the original ball joint. I might as well just put the new joint and boot in. Any ideas on getting the upper ball joint separated from the
knuckle?

 

[Jim Hupy]

I use a ball joint tool. Looks kinda like a "C" clamp. Puts pressure on the
end of the threaded stud, and prys against the knuckle. For safety 's sake,
I leave the nut flush with the end of the threads. Once I have it under
pressure, I back up one side of the knuckle with a heavy sledge hammer, and
whack the opposite side with a 2 pounder. Couple of whacks, and bam, out
she comes. A pickle fork puller can also be used. They are cheap, or can be
rented.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403.

> Just checked my replacement upper ball joint with the new boot. One
> cannot install a new boot without drilling out the rivets from the factory
> boot
> and removing the original ball joint. I might as well just put the new
> joint and boot in. Any ideas on getting the upper ball joint separated from
> the
> knuckle?
>
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>

 

[robert mueller]

Robert,

Re your points:

2) I would replace both ball joints.
3) Please paste a link to the site that sells just the boot.

Regards,
Rob M.
The Pedantic Mechanic
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808


-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Robert J. Gogan
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 7:07 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Upper ball Joint replacement.

158,600 mi on my coach. Doing wheel bearing servicing on the the front end today. I have already replaced the driver's side upper
ball joint that wore out. The passenger side ball joint is fine regarding tolerances but the boot is torn. I ordered a new Moog
upper ball joint from Jim K and noticed that the new joint comes with a separately attachable boot.

Two points:
1) The boot is not sealed to the joint in any way. You can add as much grease as you want and there is no danger in rupturing a
sealed boot as some in this forum have expressed concern.
2) Do I drill the factory original upper ball joint rivets out and replace the entire joint as long as I am here or do I just
replace the boot?
3) I did find a site that sells the boot alone.

I am stuck again as I was last time I did this job in separating the upper ball joint taper from the knuckle. The service manual
wants me to pry up on the upper control arm and hit the Knuckle housing taper with a brass drift. I cannot find a brass drift
anywhere in Milwaukee and just ordered a set on line. I have been prying and hitting the Knuckle housing with a brass hammer but it
may not be hefty enough. Any suggestions on pulling this tapered joint apart? I cannot remember how I did it the last time.

 

[johnny]

I use a ball joint splitter - what Hupy calls a 'pickle fork' and prize it apart,

 

[john r. lebetski]

The thing about the uppers on dual A arm GM vehicles is they are just a follower and not a weight supporting joint. That is why if greased they should
last and last. However on the lowers some slight play is ok as the load takes all the lash to zero ( except on severe washboard road surfaces). The
uppers need to be tight as they do not benefit from the zeroing of the loading. If they rock under acceleration, braking or steering the caster,
camber and to some lesser degree toe will keep changing.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

 

[terry1]

Whether you use a pickle fork or just smacking the taper housing of the knuckle, the minimum head size for the hammer is 3 pounds. Without the fork,
hit it directly, do not put a sacrifice between the hammer and the joint, that will only absorb the energy that is necessary to deform the taper and
disjoin the tapered jam fit. With the fork, you still need the 3 lb maul to make up for the mass of the fork.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.