New member- have a Q about ball joints

[87moonglow]

Hey guys, new member here and already in distress lol. Anyways i was wondering if anyone knows how to remove the lower strut assembly and spindle from the knuckle arm to gain access to the ball joint on my 87, i have removed the two bolts which apprear to hold it in,but to no avail. Any help is much appreciated.

edit: forgot to mention i'v checked the service manual and it only says to "separate knuckle arm from strut" on FA-11

[87moonglow]

Anyone know? Really appreciate someone's wisdom on this pls

[AZhitman]

Looking at the pics on FA 11-12, there's more than 2 bolts. It's likely going to require a press, which won't happen with the strut putting tension on the knuckle arm.

However, I've found it's a lot easier to remove the whole assembly and mess with it off the car. In other words, drop the strut and lower link so you can press out the ball joint.

[87moonglow]

Basically i have everything unbolted from the transverse link besides the strut, and the main bolt that holds it to the crossmember. tyvm for the reply btw

[87moonglow]

Oh ok i think i know what you mean by drop the strut, so i need to take the 3 retaining bolts off from under the hood too? And sorry noob question but would i need to compress the spring to just drop the assembly, or will it stay together with the main rod lock nut still on and untouched?

[evildky]

Separating the strut assembly from the steering arm can be kinda tricky due to the strut pushing down. disconnecting the sway bar and tc rod will give you a little more range fo motion in the lca. Once the 2 bolts that go up through the steering arm into the bottom of the strut are out, I give the steering arm a whack with a hammer to break it loose and rotate it a bit. Once it's rotated It's just a matter or prying it out, If you lever from the lca to the steering arm you can get the steering arm to push down and start separating from the bottom of the strut housing.

If you decide to pull the arm off I'd leave the strut in place. you only need to compress the strut/spring assembly if you intent to remove the spring from the strut assembly.

[87moonglow]

Excellent thank you very much I'll probably leave the arm on since I don't have bushings right now, I'll let you guys know how it goes tomorrow

[87moonglow]

Went great but used a whole can of pb blaster on one side lol. It almost looked like the steering knuckle was tack welded to the strut assembly which was weird. Maybe a coldweld from rust and friction or something but in this case using leverage and a bigger hammer worked. Thanks again for the help.

[evildky]

Glad to hear you got it worked out.