The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Am I just stupid or what???

Okay, this is driving me nuts. I've got a 65 C10 that I'm in the process of redoing virtually the entire brake system on it. This includes converting the front to disc. Now, I have all the parts, and have HAD all the parts for almost a month now. I'm working on this myself and am generally considered very mechanically-minded.

Now, that being said, getting the old front spindles off of this truck seems to be nearly IMPOSSIBLE!!! I'm going crazy here trying to figure out what I am or am not doing right. I think I have to compress the spring to get the two ball joint studs out of the spindles, but I don't know, nor can I figure out a good way to compress them. Once I get a little bit of compression on them, I still can't seem to get either a-arm free. HELP ME, PLEASE!!!!!!!!

You do not have to compress the springs when working on a truck. Cars you do. After removeing the drums & backing plates, loosen the nuts on the ball joints. Remove the jack from under the lower a arm. There are several ways to break the joints loose from the spindle. If you have a expantion fixture to put between the studs & force them to pop loose is the best way. A pickle fork & big hammer will usually work or a large hammer & strike the spindle in the area of the stud. After they pop loose Jack up under the lower arm & continue removeing the nuts. Raise the upper arm & remove the spindle. If & you want to remove the spring you can lower the jack after remove ing the shock mount & sway bar if equipt.

If you use the pickle fork, you might tear the grease boots. If you do go that route, pick up some new boots for the balljoints.
also, when you do go to pop the balljoints loose, regardless of method, leave the nuts on a few threads. That'll keep the spindle from falling off when the stud comes free.

Heat might be necessary

Use a bigger hammer!

or what...

be careful... those springs can still do a number on you.

Cool beans, Fellas. So I've got my torch, my 3 pound sledge, my pickle forks, and my kevlar vest and helmet to guard from flying springs. Now, another question for you. Should I replace the ball joints since I'll have the spindles pulled off or are they a common wear item? I've already screwed the boots and bought new ones, just seeing how far I need to go...

Yes,that way you only have to do it once.New ball joints will make it steer well.

Depending on the heat used and how hard they come out. INSPECT them, make up your own mind. I would probably change them to go alone with your other new parts.

why not go all out.. if you have the cash.. replace the ball joints, bushings ect... it's not that much more work, as it will be halfway apart anyway... and put in NEW front springs... it's no fun when one of them breaks on you while driving through the mountains at 0200...

Hmm, sounds like a voice of experience!! I was thinking about the new springs as well, considering the level of pitting and rust on mine. Are these ball joints going to cause large quantities of swearing?? I've never replaced them before...

You could probably join the Navy cause you will be swearing like a sailor!

By the time you get the fourth ball joint done, you'll have a handle on how to do it.

Hmm... No Navy here. I'm already in the Air Force! :-)

If you are allready in the Air Force you should know how the tune goes.

I suspect that the Air Force has tech manuals for everything you do.
Start by getting some sort of a service manual, even if it's just a general chilton automotive repair manual.
Put the torch aside and don't even think about it.
You can't swing a 3lb under there but you can use it as a back-up behind the knuckle and hit the front with a smaller hammer.
Put the helmet on your reputation and just wrap a chain around the spring and A arm. If the spring should jump, the chain will coral that energy.
I have always used a pickle fork if I was replacing the joints or the hammers if I wanted to inflict less damage. I've never used a torch.
Last year I replaced the ball joints on my Vette. With aluminum A arms and aluminum spindles, none of those are an option, ever. The Vette service manual and most other service manuals show the use of a spreader, between the ball joints such as Wrenchbender mentioned. I would have never believed how easy this tool works.
[img]http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/jpg/small/0900823d8012b760.jpg[/img]
You back off the ball nut one turn, then turn the tool about a half turn. Pop, and it's loose. Actually it's more like a light thump, because with this method it is only moving about one thread.


I had no idea there to buy one so I made my own from an old brake rod. I even had a hard time finding a picture of one on the internet to show you. That picture came from Autozone's excellent article on how to replace the ball joints. Take a look.

It would make one hell of a tech article for this forum, but I'm sure permission would have to be addressed.


Autozone tech article

Man, you guys rock! Finally, after more than a month of farting around with these stinking spindles, they are off! You all gave out a lot better info than any of the crap these people around my town can give up!! All that time and the stupid jack stand was my problem (it was resting on the lower A-arms just behind the spring cup).

Anyway, I got them off and I rented a ball joint remover set from Advance and the two bottom ball joints came out like they were putty! This is going really smoothly (which I'm apprehensive to say for fear of jinxing myself), but I'm really flippin' stoked here!! I was getting ready to pound out the rivets for the upper ball joints when I realized that it was after 8:30 and the neighbors might not care for that too much... Tomorrow can't get here fast enough!!

Now for my next advice question... Since I virtually have these A-arms completely torn down and have the new ball joints and springs to replace the old ones, should I just go one step further and replace the bushings at the A-arm pivot points? How often do those really go bad? I was kind of thinking that I could just re-grease them and they should be fine, as they move without any hang-ups or anything... Y'all's advice/opinions is always welcome here!

Also, while I'm thinking of it, I do need to pull the shocks loose to get the springs out, right? With no tension on the A-arms from jacks or stands, the springs are still quite tight in the cups...

Thanks again all!

I always say that if something is in questionable condition....replace it. Now is the perfect time for it too. It will make you feel a whole lot better when you are done, and you will know for sure that they are in great shape.

When I worked in a shop, it always seemed to be a dilemma whether or not to replace a part that was still OK, but getting to the point where you should be thinking about replacing it. Sometimes the customer wasn't readily available and I had to make a decision. Many times I decided to spend another $25 or $100 of the customers money in order to keep him from a future expense and aggravation of being broken again, and having to bring it back to the shop 7-8 months later. "Most" of the time after explaining why and how much it would cost him shortly down the road, they were convinced I had made the right decision. I always wanted to do my best so that the customer would never bring back their vehicle for what could seem like the same problem.