Ball joint, bearings, u-joints progress

[MKing7]

Decided to do this myself and got started last night. Going to work a little each night (probably 3 nights) to do this.



Last night I got it all torn down. Bearings out, axles out, ball joints pressed out. Tonight I'm going to swap the u-joints in the axles and begin to reassemble.



So far, it hasn't been bad. I read a ton of posts here before I started and I have a service manual. Best tip so far - heat on the caliper mounting bracket bolts. I tried one without for grins (not for long) and it was TIGHT..... a little heat and they came out easily.



I think that living in Texas has made it much easier for me than some folks. The bearings were not hard at all to pull. I loosened the bolts and tapped each with a hammer (and not that hard) to break them loose then I put the puller on and they came right out.



I am also doing the 08 steering upgrade while I have everything apart.



My question is this, does anyone know the pitman arm nut size? I forgot to check it last night and would like to make sure I'm covered there. I seem to recall it being fairly large.



Thanks!

 

[MKing7]

Well, I jinxed myself... the axle u-joints were not fun. I bought a tool from tiger tools that worked great at extracting the joint on the short side... . the long side shaft was another story... . ug... and I'm not sure I didn't bend the yokes a little getting them out. I can't tell for sure though so I guess I'm going to button it up tonight and see what happens..... Pressed the ball joints in last night. Went well. I used the kit I purchased from quad4x4 and it worked well.

 

[rbattelle]

Best tip so far - heat on the caliper mounting bracket bolts. I tried one without for grins (not for long) and it was TIGHT..... a little heat and they came out easily.

That's because they put threadlocker on them from the factory. You need heat to remove them.



-Ryan

 

[MKing7]

That's because they put threadlocker on them from the factory. You need heat to remove them.



-Ryan

Ya, I wouldn't have known that up front if it hadn't been for this forum... . didn't take much heat at all and they came right out. That tip probably saved me an hour.



I finished it up yesterday. I'd say it took me roughly 4hrs per night for 3 nights. I think if I did it again I could shave quite a bit off of that. I'd never done ball joints before and I think I'd carry the axles to a shop to have the old joints removed and new ones pressed in. That would cut a couple hours off right there.



I'd say if you're thinking about doing it you probably can. Wasn't anything too difficult. If you live in the rust belt your opinion may be quite different. I didn't have any issue whatsoever with rust like most folks report on the bearing removal.

 

[AEdelheit]

That's because they put threadlocker on them from the factory. You need heat to remove them.



-Ryan

Actually with a 36" breaker bar they come out very easily and you don't have to worry about a inexperienced person melting brake lines, seals or catching grease on fire

 

[rbattelle]

Actually with a 36" breaker bar they come out very easily and you don't have to worry about a inexperienced person melting brake lines, seals or catching grease on fire

Good point. I didn't mention that the way I found out they were threadlocked is I removed one without heat first.



Unfortunately, I don't have a good HD tool collection, so I had to remove mine with a regular 10" rachet. I keep telling myself that using these little tools builds character.



-Ryan