Hello:

I'm going to tackle my upper and lower ball joints tomorrow (2003 D2), and I'm wondering about the procedure. After removing the wheel and brakes, the videos I've seen show that you just remove the hub with the half shaft intact, and pull the whole assemble out of the axle casing (being mindful of the ABS sensor). Is this correct? I've never pulled the shafts out before, so I'm a little gun shy. Is there anything I should be weary of like seals or other axle/Diff components? Anything to look for etc?


Thanks,


Nick

 

You can pull the shaft out with the hub or you can separate them

 

Thanks Abran. I ended up ordering the seals (should be here tomorrow), and pulled the shaft. I ran into a bit of an issue though... in trying to disconnect the track rod from the knuckle, the nut on the ball joint/(swivel joint?) is just spinning. I have the torx40 bit in place at the bottom of the bolt, so It's not the bolt/stud that's spinning (unless there's something happening that I can't see). When I bought the truck, the guy said he had replaced the tie rod ends, so I'm wondering if he maybe overtightened the nut and stripped the threads behind? Any thoughts?

 

Try some good’ol down force on the track bar — it’s in the AB video. He uses a large crowbar to apply downward pressure while undoing the tired bolts at the knuckle

 

It’s normally an Allen not a torx, if I recall.

 

Mine was definitely a Torx. Weird. I ended up cutting it off and getting a new track rod assembly from L8. Once I cut it loose I could get the nut off and low and behold, stripville city. Oh well. The downside is that I was hoping to get away with not needing an alignment until after the summer (due for tires around then). I doubt I'll have much of a chioce now. We shall see.