i'm in the process of changeing the ball joints on my 2000 scrambler. what is the best way to remove them, i removed the plate on the bottom but it still seems stuck in there. are they really hard to get out? thanks for any help on this

 

Heres how I did it, just recently....

Buy a pice of 1 1/4" pvc pipe, and you will need to vcut it into varying lenghts of about an 1", 1 1/4", 1 1/2", etc, etc, depending on what you will need to get it out.

Then, cut a piece of plate, preferably steel,, or a piece of square tube if you use aluminum, and drill (2) different holes in the square tube if you use that, it will give you a bit more adjustability. One hole to just clear the threads of the ball joint, and the other hole will be bigger to clear the taper on the shaft of the ball joint.

Also, you will need to cut about a 1/3 of the pvc area out, so that you can reach in there and hold onto the shaft of the ball joint with a pair of vise grips.

Now, holding the shaft of the ball joint with the vise grips, slide the PVC onto the bottom of the strut, and use the steel plate (or sqaure tube) and slide it over the threads. Also, you will probably need a few extra nuts. If the ball joints are stuck in there real good, you will probably strip the nuts a couple of times. Don't worry about the ball joint though, those threads should hold up, and if not, you are replacing the ball joint anyways.

Now, with the PVC in place, and the steel plate in place, as you tighten the nut on the threads of the ball joint, it will force the ball joint to pop out of the strut housing. You will proabably have to use 2 or 3 different pieces of PVC, but once you make them, you will always have them for future use.

This is all very much more clearer with a picture that I have at home. Email me off list if you would like for me to send you a picture....

Justin
srparts@hotmail.com