2000 Jimmy Lower Ball Joint

[erryja]

I've been following these links.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=545573

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=580987


I finished the upper ball joint on one side & have also removed the bolts for the lower ball joint. I'm having trouble getting the lower ball joint to release & don't see how I will get it out after I do.
The one thing I have not been able to do is remove the Hub Assy. The Hub Assy is unbolted along with the ABS sensor but I have not been able to pull it off. I'm figuring I will need to get some kind of PULLER.

1) How does removing the Hub help you remove the lower ball joint?

My Haynes book states to disconnect the Tie Rod from the Relay Rod. There is nothing said in the links ABOVE telling you to do this. I have any ways unbolted it but was having difficultly in getting free. I was figuring I could disconnect the Tie rod at the knuckle instead. I will have to use a puller for this as well.

2) Does the Tie Rod need to be disconnected?

3) What allows for there to be enough room between the Lower Arm & the Knuckle to remove the Lower Ball Joint & place the new one back in?

Thanks for any comments or help.,

[erryja]

I got the Ball joint to release from the knuckle. But don't have the clearance to remove the ball joint.

I'm going to get a puller & remove the hub.

Any Comments?

[erryja]

I got 2 pullers. I've been successful at removing the Hub Assy with one of the pullers. There is still no notiable clearance to remove the Ball Joint. I still have the Tie Rod to disconnect. maybe this will allow the upper control arm & the Knuckle to drop down from the lower Control Arm giving me cleaerance to remove the ball joint.

comments welcome

Thanks

[erryja]

Boy the things we learn the first time you do something. I disconnected the Tie Rod. Now I feel at all is not in vain. After disconnecting the Tie Rod the only thing left was the bolt for the upper ball joint. I undid this bolt & off can the Knuckle lower ball joint & all. This also made reinstalling the new lower ball joint onto the lower control Arm very easy. So I'm now in the rebuilding stage.
Now to the comment "Boy the things we learn the first time we do something" After attaching the Tie Rod back to the knuckle I realized it would have been easier tighting the hub assy bolt without the tie rod in the way. Also be before bolting the Hub assy all the way down to toque make sure that the ABS attachment port on the Hub is at the right Clocking position, Whoops. I now have to take the Hub Assy off again to re-clock it. Maybe I'll disconnect the Tie Rod again as well.

I would greatly suggest removing the Knuckle completely if replacing the Lower ball joint. definitely if doing both ball joints.
Something not mentioned in the attached threads above.

[gatoratoy227]

does your truck have coil springs or torsion bars? the reason i ask is there is a specific procedure to each other set up

[erryja]

Originally Posted by gatoratoy227

does your truck have coil springs or torsion bars? the reason i ask is there is a specific procedure to each other set up

Torsion Bars. I did release the load on the Torsion Bars while changing the ball joints.

[gatoratoy227]

ok i had the same problem i found out that you have to drill out 4 rivets that hold the ball joint to the controll arm you probably know that allready but throwing it out there just in case

to drop the lower controll arm you have to not only release the load on the torsion bars but loosen the tension bolts at the torsion bar cross member and a word of warning try and keep your self as far away from the cross member as you can if some reason the torsion bar decides to come apart from the cross member it will have enough force to rip off any body part it gets ahold of arms, legs, head

i've seen a few unintentional amputations because of it and i was there when the torsion bar acted like a guitiene ripped a guys head clean off his neck


as i said keep your self as far away from the torsion bars as you can

[erryja]

Just so you know I finished replacing my ball joints back in June.
My lower balljoints had been replace before so the rivets had already been replaced with bolts. I did have to remove the rivets on the upper joints. If I have to do this again I still feel removing the knuckle completely is the best way to go.

[gatoratoy227]

yeah it would be much easier more clearence to all components and while every thing would be taken apart it would make inspections easier for other worn components

[TCsNicNac]

This thread was extremely helpful! Especially the link at the beginning with the photos. Thanks to the poster for doing all that work.
Well, my lower ball joints are done. One thing to note. If you are doing only the lower ball joints, you still need to remove the upper ball joint nuckle so that the lower part of the piece will drop down far enough to come off the lower joint.
Now that the job is done, my ABS is kicking in whenever I am almost at a stop. At higher speeds the brakes operate normally. Has anyone else had that happen? Could it be some rust or dirt that I disturbed when I remeoved and reinstalled the sensor causing false readings? Something between the sensor and the axle teeth? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[erryja]

Don't consider me any kind of expert. But the way I think the ABS system works is the sensor at each hub senses the rotation of each wheel. If one of the sensors is getting a different reading than the other wheel the ABS will kick in. This could be from something blocking one of the sensors. I also thing the sensor is magnetic so just unhook the sensors & check them for obstructions or that they are just not dirty. Doing this can only help.

[erryja]

I found a comment you may be interested in. Select this hot link & check out post #46 on page 4.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=545573

[TCsNicNac]

I agree with your comments. That is how the system works. (magnetic) I'm hoping that the spinning of the axle while driving will dislodge any debri near the sensor. If the problem doesn't clear up after driving a while, I will remove and clean the sensors. I hope another poster has experienced the same situation after working on the front end and cured it. Thanks.

[TCsNicNac]

Hi. Thanks for finding that info. I appreciate you taking the time to look into for me. That's what make this such a great site. Its members! Tom

[TownCarTechi]

Hi guys, I need to replace the ball joints, idler and pitman arms on my daughter's 99 4WD Jimmy. Is there any significant difference between the 99 and 00 Jimmys for this repair? Any step by step pics available for the idler and pitman arm replacements?