how to replace ball joint on lower contol arm
 

I have removed the control arms and want to replace the ball joints. how to i go about pulling them out. any good ideas or tricks. Do i need a fork or puller? thanks

You can borrow a ball joint press from autozone to remove the old ones. When I did it, it was like a $99 deposit, but you get it back when you return the tool. I had a hard time using the tool to press the new ones in. Between the apapter ring, the press (giant C-Clamp), top/bottom plates, it was difficult to hold everything. Instead, I took it to a machine shop and they pressed in the new ones and tack welded them in place. Some tack their joint and some don't. I would do it because the metal can distort a bit during removing the old and installing the new. The result is that it doesn't quite fit as good as factory. Some have had the joints work loose if they didn't tack weld them. Others have had good luck without the tacks. Your call there.

Some machine shops might not do ball joints as the metal is thin and they don't want to bend up your control arms in the press accidentally.

Also, there is at least one good thread in the archive about doing ball joints. You should check it out.

Like he said a press is one of the easier methods, but the giant c-clamp and ring shaped adaptors work well too. I always tack mine in, I've had several come apart on me....

I went to a machine shop