Im doing the LS1 brake upgrade and putting on some new shocks. I basically have everything off and ready to drop out but i cant get the knuckle off the lower ball joint stud or the top stud.

I dont have a pickle fork or a C style puller to get them off either. I'll probably go out and buy them.. I was trying to us my crow bar on the lower one... Bracing it on the lower control arm and undearth the knuckle to seperate the too but it didnt do anything...Does anyone have any tips on how to get the damn thing off... its got 92,000 miles on it so its on there pretty good.

Be very specific on the procedure if you have one. Thanks.

 

would you by chance have a pic of the steering knuckle. I have been wanting to do the LS1 brake upgrade but i have heard you need the steering knuckle but i am not sure what it looks like. A pic would really help.

 

Ok so you knocked the lower ball joint and stud out with a hammer? Then just slid the knucke down and out?

I was trying that but i guess i wasnt hitting hard enough. In the haines manual it shows a guy using a pickle fork.

Im going to beat the hell out of that thing tomorrow until it comes out.

Picture of it on step 6 and 7. Big long black thing.
http://www.fbody.com/tech/details.cgi?id=30

 

you can try to just loosen the nuts on the ball joint just a bit and then hit them with a 5# hammer. That's the way I did it and they all popped off fairly easy. Just be carefull or you can mess up the threads and need new ball joints. If you do end up using a pickle fork you may ruin the rubber boot on the joint.

 

If you plan on using your existing ball joints, don't ever hit the stud with a hammer, even if the nut is on it. Those things are so soft, it does not take much to deform the threads. If the threads are hurt, you are gonna have to replace it.

Notice the flat places on the knuckle on either side of the area where the studs goes through. Put a big hammer on one flat and hit the other side solidly with another hammer (this is like you were using the first, big hammer as an anvil). The vibrations will loosen the tapered stud from the knuckle. Depending on the amount of corrosion present, it may take some whacking.
If you are removing the upper one first, loosen the castle nut a few turns before you start beating on it. This will leave a small gap between the nut and the knuckle. You will be able to see when it pops free because the nut will again be against the knuckle and there will be no gap. You can then screw the nut off and the joint will come apart. It will probably jump apart at the end unless you put some support underneath to compress it a little. You might need a helper to pull up on the knuckle to get the bottom one out or you could do the bottom one first.

This method has always worked for me to separate the joints on many cars and you won't tear any boots like a pickle fork can.

 

If you have a two arm gear puller you can get it real easy like this:

http://www.reanimator.org/Z28/balljoint_puller.jpg