I was installing a lift on the front of my '04 500 HO last weekend and ran into a little problem... while I was removing my front left strut my a-arm slipped off the support I had it on and the axle slipped out of the hub.
After this happened I tore everything down and managed to slide the axle assembly out and get the axle and hub lined up and back together but at this point there was no way to get it back through the strut tower... soooo at this point I decide to unbolt the strut tower so I could get enough room to slide the axle back into the assembly. when I unbolted the a-arm from the bottom at the ball joint I used a pickle fork to try to get the a-arm to unseat from the ball joint and at this time I managed to pull the ball joint out of the strut tower..
so the question I have is, will I need to remove the strut tower and have a new ball joint pressed in or is their a certain way I can get this one back in and seated for safe operation?

 

Since its already out, just put a new one in and forget about it.

 

if it doesn't have much play in it,try reinstalling it. if you have room ,where you are repairing it, siphon the gas out ,remove the battery ,and lay the machine on it's side . much easier. you don't need a press either,a hammer and dull chisel will do,just tap on the outer part of the joint and NOT the ball

 

If the ball joint is still good stick it in the freezer for a while and it will go in pretty easily. Also, if there's a grease fitting on the strut tower for it remove that so there is no pressure created while pushing it back in. Same goes for wheel bearings-putting them in the freezer makes re-assembly much easier!