Hey All
I just picked up a '99 Blazer to tow behind my motorhome. 4-door, Auto-Trac 4x4.
Lower ball joints were worn and had play, so I picked up uppers and lowers.
Got the passenger side apart; upper joint is out, lower will not budge.
For the lower ball joint I've:
Chiseled the rivets with an air hammer from the top as well as from underneath. I've gotten the bottom half of the assy/lower cover broken out, and thought maybe taking the sledge to the arm would bust it loose, but just broke the arm. So now I have basically a plate that is stuck to the underside of the control arm and no way to get it out. There's almost no room to get a pry bar on it, as I've tried several. I've tried getting the pry bar into the now vacant ball hole with no luck either.
Any suggestions??

Thanks!!

 

You said you broke the control arm?

So you need to replace the control, now?

 

Sorry, not the control arm, the ball joint 'arm'/rod. Broke it out of the socket.
Replacing the entire control arm may be the only way to go; but I'm not really wanting to mess with the torsion bar.

 

Support the A arm on a block and with a slender punch out what is left of the rivets - what is left is prob swelled and holding what is left of the cover to the A arm

 

Have you tried drilling the rivets out?

 

I've tried that using the air hammer punch with both the air hammer, and a 3lb sledge. The 1 rivet I was able to get out was after nearly drilling completely through it with a 1/4" bit from the top, then using the sledge it finally came out.
I was able to get a pry bar under that corner and get it to come up a bit, then got the air chisel under it. All that accomplished was getting the next layer of this $%@& ball joint onion apart. The part of the ball joint assy which mates with the control arm is still firmly attached. I sheared off the rivets, then tried pounding them through from the top with the punch and sledge, no luck, not a bit of movement seen.
I think I may just get the air cutoff tool out and slice through that plate tomorrow night, then get a pry bar or air chisel under it.

 

Damn, dude. That sounds awful. I was lucky, my truck already had bolt in ball joints by the time I got it!

 

They're a bugger to get through. I drilled almost through one using 3/16" and 1/4" bits; 3-4 of each to get through it. Then pounded it out with a punch & 3lb sledge.
I may drill though another one tomorrow night since the rivets are less than 1/2 their original length now.

 

This Blazer has 188k miles; can't believe these would be originals. Someone must have replaced complete control arms. I'd just order a new complete lower and be done with it, but I don't want to deal with the torsion bar.

 

Torsion bar is easy. You must have it already unloaded if you have the control arms split, right? Two bolts for the control arm, and then bang the arm off the torsion bar in a slide hammer type action. That's what I did, and arm came off fairly easily