Anybody change ball joints yet?

[Danfzzl]

Hey guys, after troubleshooting the vibration in my front end a few times I discovered my lower ball joint is bad on the right side. (I think the left is bad too but I didn't check it. Either way I'll change it too.) It looks like the top of the control arm is mounted straight to the strut so there is only 1 ball joint? Anyways has anybody changed ball joints on their Baja yourself yet? Any tips or tricks I should know about? It doesn't seem to difficult to change, just a lot of work getting to it.

[hocrest]

You are correct that there is only a lower.

Since you are in Ohio (or any rusty state) I would recomend liberally applying some penetrating oil a day or two ahead of time.

The 14mm headed pinch bolt is the real troublesome bolt, and is known to break off if you're not careful.

Once you have the pinchbolt out, a couple of good whacks onto the control arm will usually pull the upper socket of the BJ out of the hub.

An impact wrench will then get the castle nut off the bottom post and this BJ tool or a pickle fork will get the BJ out of the control arm.

[Danfzzl]

Thanks for the info man, I'll refer to this when I get around to doing it.