I'm replacing the steering knuckle and ball joints on my 95 Dakota 4x4. I cannot for the life of me get the old ball joints separated from the knuckle though. So far all I've tried is a pickle fork and BFH, and they would not budge. Is there anything I can take off to make the job a bit easier? Thanks

Matt Poker

 

I don't know. All I did was take the nuts off both ball joints and hammer the steering knuckle off. It took a little bit, but she came off.
Hmm..

 

I have never done this on ball joints but heating things up with a torch in the shop works to break things free. Maybe someone could chime in on that option. Get a bigger Big Fancy Hammer..

 

LOL! I delt with this today and last week. The pickle fork with my 18lb slug hammer it worked on one side but not the other. I had to get my small jack and push up with the jack on the ball joint stud. I belive a wider fork would have worked. OEM has a ball joint stud remover which is a threaded rod that jams it upwords.

 

I got the knuckle off today with the jack under the stud and hammer method. The upper ball joint has been replaced, but I can't figure out the lower. Do I have to press it through the bottom of the control arm, or the top? Thanks for all the help everyone!

Matt Poker

 

Yes you do have to press them down and press up the new ones. There are tabs on top of the old ball joint that need to bend back I just gridded them off. Rent the tool from auto zone.