I am replacing my ball joints and have come into a problem. How do you get the freaking cap looking things off on the lower ball joints! These things are driving me nuts! It is on a 04 ram 1500 2wd.

 

The cap? take you a flat screwdriver and a hammer and work the screwdriver in and give it a good pop all the way around, it should come right off...

 

I did mine last week. I didn't see any cap. I used this kit borrowed from AAP and pressed the top down through the lower control arm. With the steering knuckle removed of course.

 

thats not a cap, its the top of the ball joint. at least on mine

 

Hammer is right. There is a cap and there are three or four "tangs" that are bent out and hold the cap down. You take a hammer and a screw driver or chisel and break them off and push them back in and then pop the cap off. That exposes the top of the BJ and the snap ring that holds it in place

For those of you that dont have a cap, it is likely you dont have the original BJs and they have already been changed out once

 

Weed, I tried to pop off that cap and even got an air chisel, I got every one of the tabs that were bent over off and even tried an air chisel with a sharpened edge to pop that cap off

Took it to an alignment shop to get it pressed out and he showed me the old ball joint. That cap was either attached or rusted to my ball joint. It wouldnt come off.

 

What looked like a cap to me I couldn't take off either. But I pressed it down through the lower arm. I also just figured it was the top of the ball joint. I'm gonna do the other side soon so I'll take pics this time.

 

I have read the "instructions" on removing the lower ball joint and they don't say a thing about removing the cap, so I'm guessing good old Chrysler isn't uniform on the ball joints they use because mine pop off. Are a LOT of posts I'm seeing on various forums where guys are going nuts trying to get the cap off and finding out that theirs is fixed on the top of the ball joint.

I guess, you should try to pry it off but don't go nuts on it. If it comes off - fine, if it doesn't just assume it won't and press it with the cap on there...


'Weed, I'm thinking these guys DO have original Mopar ball joints, because EVERY greasable aftermarket ball joint I've ever seen has a removable cap. We obviously have ones from a separate vendor that Chrysler was/is dealing with. I know for a FACT that some '04s have a different PCM manufacturer than others, so I wouldn't put it past Chrysler to have multiple ball joint manufacturers either...

 

I guess that is possible having different vendors. I should have taken pics when I did mine. Maybe next time

 

Maybe it is just different on 2wd trucks than 4wd trucks. I took a chisel around the lip of the cap and pushed it in. Then I put the press on it and pushed it right out. Piece of cake. As for the upper ball joints, I had to replace the entire control arm. Thats just the way I had to buy them from advance.