Getterdun

Note:
The front lower ball joints are not sold separately. They come only as a unit with the lower control arms. I used Beck/Arney part numbers 1027676 and 1027677. Found on Rockauto, $225 for pair including shipping.

Procedure
1. Jacked up front end
2. Remove front tires
3. Removed the 19mm nut and 19mm bolt securing bracket below lower ball joint.
4. Removed the cotter pin from lower ball joint threaded shaft
5. Removed the 19mm nut from lower ball joint threaded shaft
6. Removed the 14mm nut from stabilizer link and tapped it’s bolt free of lower arm

• Inserted Allen/hex wrench into end of bolt shaft to keep it from turning with nut
• When nut was nearly off, tapped it to start driving the threaded shaft out.
• Then stuck the Allen/hex wrench in hole and drove it the rest of way out.

7. Removed the bolt and nut connecting the lower arm to the damper fork

• Used 17mm box end wrench on one end and 17mm socket on other
• When nut was nearly off, tapped it with hammer to tap bolt most of way out.
• Then removed nut and pulled bolt out while pulling up and down on rotor.

8. Removed the horizontal bolt and nut securing lower arm to frame at the rear, then removed the vertical bolt and nut securing lower arm to frame at front

• Used a ¾” box end wrench to loosen the nut
• After breaking nut loose, used 17mm open end wrench to hold the bolt head
• When nut was nearly off, tapped it with hammer to drive bolt nearly out. Removed nut and pulled bolt out.

9. Removed the lower arm

• Starting at the rear, used prybar to work lower arm free of bracket on frame.
• While pushing down and rotating lower arm, lifted and pulled rotor out of way
• When back end of the lower arm was rotated so it was lined up with the front of the lower arm, worked the arm back and forth to free the front end from the recessed area of the frame

10. After removing the lower arm, removed the bracket below the ball joint

• Used a ball joint separator fork tool and hand-held sledge hammer.
• Put arm on concrete driveway and leaned it against fence so I could hit fork tool head using both hands on the sledge.
• It took about 6 or 7 hard whacks to break the bracket loose.

11. Reassembly:

1. Start with the arm that slides into the frame. Wedge it in there. Then rotate the other arm counterclockwise. Lift and rotate the rotor out of the way while doing this.
2. Loosen the 14mm bolt that clamps the fork to the shock absorber tube. This makes it easier/possible to align the holes in the fork with the holes in the lower arm.