[541joseph]

So got all the stuck nuts off of the axel and couldn't get the lower ball joint off. I've tried everything I bent a 2foot crow bar a screw driver a breaker bar and didn't get it to budge any suggestions?

[88yota]

Pb blaster, ball joint seperator, and hammer. Spray it and let it sit for a little while then hammer the seperator in between the bj and lower control arm. Another way is to use a wheel puller to add tension to the bj and then tap the side of the control arm and it will pop loose. Hope this helps

[541joseph]

It does help thank you. Have a ball joint separator at work not 10 ft away from me completely forgot it was there. Thanks for your input.

[lightfighter]

What year is the truck, on a 94 there are 4 bolts that fix the ball joint to te lower arm. No need to break the joint if you don't need a new one.

[541joseph]

It's a 93 and I have pulled the 4bolts out and can't get it to move still. That's how I bent the crow bar. I'm at a loss I'm going to try and get the ball joint out without breaking it in the morning and then I have to do the other side. Oh and the best part of all this is that I broke my 17mm impact socket(fml) and don't have the money to replace it currently and I crushed my pinky finger. Ohhh what fun this is..

[Hyde802]

If you pound out the bottom 3 studs on the diff with a long bar, it should give you enough room to get the cv out without pilling the ball joint.

[541joseph]

I've got enough room to get it out that way but its stuck on the lower control arm right now. And it's at an angle so its wedged in there.

[541joseph]

Oh and I think my issue is my torsion bars. They are stiff and pushing down. On the lbj. Is tho possible? And if so how do I release the tension on them.

[lightfighter]

How big is your hammer? And do you have a good steel drift punch to really pop the side of the part that the 4 bolts came out of? Or an air hammer(meaning an air chisel with a blunt tip.

Failing that, heat?

[541joseph]

I haven't tried hitting it yet. I'll try in the morning. I think that if I could take pressure off the torsion bars It'd be a piece of cake.

[lightfighter]

Originally Posted by 541joseph

I haven't tried hitting it yet. I'll try in the morning. I think that if I could take pressure off the torsion bars It'd be a piece of cake.

I quit Midas in 1997, but I'm 100% sure I never messed with a torsion bar to do cv's. I believe that would just be an opportunity for more to go wrong on a rig that is probably rusted together.

Beer, sleep, hammer. That'd be my bet.

[541joseph]

Haha I wish I was 21 so I could have a beer. And thanks for the input guys! Really appreciate it. This is my first time doing cvs on anything other than sedans. So torsion bars are something new to me.

[92-SR5]

Torsion bars have nothing to do with changing a CV out. How come you are trying to remove the ball joint? You don't need to take it apart to change the CV either. I replaced them on toyotas before static height. Have you taken the hub apart to get the bolt and/or c-clip off the end of the splined section?

[541joseph]

I have the shaft almost completely out. It's just wedged between the lower control arm and the rear bearing.

[KidVermicious]

For future reference, there's two ways to make that job very easy. My favorite is to drive all the studs out of the halfshafts on the diff and replace them with bolts, or at least grind down the splines so that they pop right out. That lets you slip inside of the CV off the halfshaft and it pulls right out. The other way, and what you should do now, is unbolt the UPPER ball joint from the control arm. Shim the bump stop first so the torsion bar doesn't push the upper control arm too low, then let the spindle and lower control arm fall down and away from the truck, and that will give you the clearance you need to get the tip of the CV out of the spindle.

I would plan on replacing that ball joint that you've been cranking on.