Issue removing stuck lbj

Doing my LBJ’s. Passenger side done no issues. Driver side is stuck and can’t get it out.
I’ve been hitting with hammer, bent the extraction tool and not sure what to do next…

I’m a driveway diy’er with limited tools but a creative mind.

 

Pitman puller or something else?

 

I take it when you say stuck, you mean the part that sticks thru the LCA won't pop free from the LCA?

Is the LBJ still bolted to the knuckle? Because it can be a real FPITA if you try to pop the LBJ out of the LCA if the LBJ isn't still bolted to the knuckle.

Have you tried installing the castle nut on upside down until it's nearly flush with the top of the stud, then putting your OEM bottle jack post up under the castle nut, and jacking the truck to put tension pussing the UBJ upward, and tapping on the side of the LCA with a 3-5lb hammer to shock the mount hole the LBJ passes thru?

Note you can rent a pitman arm puller from any local auto parts store.

 

Oh - if you do try the bottle jack method, DO NOT jack the truck up off your jackstands! For safety's sake. I realize I failed to put that in there.

 

do you have an oxy torch? If so, heat up the lower arm and it will pop out with little fuss. MAPP gas might work, but it will take a lot longer to heat things up.

 

Soak it in PB blaster, give it some time. Your replacement came with a new castle nut, right? Then as @shifty` said, castle nut threaded on and give it an upward wack with a hammer.

 

It isn’t that difficult to heat metal. A propane torch works great.

that was my progression. Hammer did nothing, not a big fan of jacking up parts of a truck already on jackstands. Ball joint separator combined with alternate torch and pb blaster.

 

This tool should help,

ball joint remover tool

 

That’s correct. I did disconnect at the knuckle

I haven’t tried the jack…

 

I have that, trying now…

can I strike it with hammer from below?

 

What about using a torch?

 

I only have propane torch
I know it’s not Ox/Mapp but would it still help?

 

What’s a on blaster?

 

That’s a lot of mass to heat with just a propane torch. You’re not heating the LBJ but the hole it goes through to open it up.

If a BFH or pitman puller didn’t work for me, I’d pull out the 6 ft digger bar to pry it apart (just exaggerating), but that’s me.

 

I wouldn't heat a part you're going to be re-using. It's forged and tempered, heating it up has a chance of annealing it.

 

1. PB Blaster
2. Use this puller

3. Don't expect the puller to completely free the taper, rather apply significant pressure and then use the BFH to persuade it.
4. Beware that the joint will come apart with explosive force.

 

UPDATE::::

I tried the ball joint remover. I tried the bottle jack (it just started lifting the truck).

this thing doesn’t want to come out…

what is actually catching it? The ball joint moves almost freely so what is keeping it in?

 

It just likes its home in that hole and it’s under a hella amount of stress.
You’ll really benefit (leverage) from having the LBJ attached to the knuckle. I hate to say this, but unbolting from the knuckle before it’s free from the LCA, I feel, is a mistake.

 

My thinking was to remove any downward weight… I’ll re connect and keep trying…

thanks

 

Honestly, best bet is to reattach the LBJ to the knuckle, either (A) have a puller on there with substantial pressure or (B) have a jack pushing up on the LBJ stud, then a few really solid whacks with a HEAVY hammer of the LCA rim where the red arrow shows to shock the bond between the LBJ stud and LCA, it should pop free. You need to break the bond that pressure and the elements have created between that threaded post of the LBJ and the hole in the LCA it’s passing thru. Using that puller people are showing, in the area of the rubber boot, should also work.

​

 

Still working on it… I tore off the rubber boot for better access. I think I’m going to try the jack, heavy hammer and crowbar.

 

it’s a non issue

 

a bottle of MAPP gas would work way faster than a bottle of propane. It would also be handy to have around in the shop for other projects.

 

The bottle jack with upward pressure on the ball joint stud and hammer striking the a-arm are the trick. As Shifty mentioned, make sure you are firmly seated on something to keep the truck from falling. A jack stand under the frame will work. It takes a firm strike, but nothing crazy. Pb blaster, wd40 etc will help. You may not need heat if you don't have much rust... definitely won't hurt though.

 

This is just another recommendation for the jack on the stud, and a heavy downward hammer blow on the lower arm. I did this job a month ago and that is exactly how I did it.

It helps to if you can find a heavy steel rod, place the end as near to the joint as you can, and hit the other end with your big hammer.

You don't put so much pressure on the stud with the bottle jack that the truck lifts, its just to tension the lower arm enough that there is somewhere for it to move, raising the lower wishbone up an inch is good enough. The jack isn't pushing out the joint, its the hammer blow that actually does it. When you strike, strike like you mean it with one blow, you aren't taping it out, you are blasting it out.

In my experience, ball joint remover tools only work on ball joints that don't need them anyway. I've destroyed every one I ever tried without removing the joint.

 

lol, tool designed for the job or dents from a big ass hammer. Ok.

 

It doesn't matter what they were designed for if they aren't actually strong enough to do the job, and if the job is so easy they actually work, its a job a little ass hammer could have handled.

Yeah, I did use a tool for one of my ball joints a month ago, but it was borrowed from work and cost $15,000, just what was handy because I had my truck towed to the parking lot at work after its LBJ left the chat. The tool I rented from O-reillys just bent.

The other one I did at home, exactly has I described.

 

I've never had any luck with the ball joint pullers either.

 

Exactly right.
Was an inspector before I became a Machinist.
You definitely dont want to apply a bunch of heat to a part you plan on reusing.
In most cases you wont get it hot enough to change its composition but it is possible.
If it starts glowing red you've gone to far,and while it may still work it's going to fail sooner and possibly cause more damage.