currently installing the rough country 2.5in lift on my zr2 and i ran into a snag anyone have any advive for removing the upper ball joint i gave it a few wacks with a hammer and ran out of ideas all advice is appresciated thanks

 

are you trying to save it? if not, a pickle fork and some brute force.

 

The RC kit comes with complete tubular upper control arms. Buy or rent a pickle fork, get a BFH & maybe some heat from a torch & beat out some stress!

 

As the other two fine gentlemans have said get yourself a pickle and fork those things outta there!!! Seriously tho a pickle fork will save your sanity and prolly an hour or two when replacing your front end.

 

ok thanks il go buy one then i just pry the upper controll arm off with that

 

yup, you just put it between the spindle and upper control arm, and start smackin away with a hammer, it will pop off, make sure you have a piece of wire or something obviously holding the spindle as it will flop down, but you obviously know that

 

pickle forks rock,but they tear up the boots.. you can get replacement boots though for cheap.

 

You don't pry, you hammer it in around the stem of the ball joint, between the UCA & it wedges it out of the hub, brake casting.
When installing the new ones, use lots of anti seize in the spindle for the ball joints so in the future they're easier to remove as well as the bushings & bolts.
Chris, he has a RC 2.5 lift. It comes with new & complete with BJ's UCA's.
But in the future yeah, they wreck the boots.

 

Best investment I've ever made: pneumatic tools!