bigreendodge

I'm replacing the ball joints in my 2000 Dodge 2500 4X4. i've taken the wheels, brake calipers, caliper mounts, and disks off, but i cant take the hubs off. i think the haynes says something about a bearing in the spindle behind the axleshaft, but i can't see how you could get that out. we've heated up the hub thinking it was rusted on but we cannot get these things off. anyone done this before and know what i'm talking about or know where i can find some type of walkthrough?? thanks

merrillr4

Here is a good link I found on the internet. Hope this helps!!

http://www.tinbenders.org/articles.php?wgo=show&wval=2

bigreendodge

ok, so heres the deal, what tinbender is calling the bearing assembly in his page is what is giving me the problem. i cannot get it off. we used silikroil, what is in my opinion the BEST penetrating oil out there, if you haven't heard of it i would look into it cause this stuff is awesome. it has gotten me out of MANY jams. so anyway we soaked it in that. then beat on it, then took an oxygen acetylene torch to heat it up, then beat on it some more. then i saw on this page to try to put the bolts back in and beat on them to beat it out. nothing is working. we are going to call chrysler tomorrow, hopefully they will have some secret for the hubs that are locked on that much. if anyone has any secrets, that would be great. oh the tie rods are already off so i might use the socket and power steering as a last resort.

bamadzl

I had to use a puller to get mine out. Not fun.

Brad

oil-burner

Have done 40-50 sets of ball joints (all 4). the best way I have found is remove all the stuff yiu talked about, remove the 4 14mm 12-pt bolts that hold the bearing in. you need a 4x4 hub tool (see below) preload the bearing, pushing against the outer shaft. be carefull not to overload it, or the bearing will seperate. now get a cold chisel and place it at the seperation line of hub/knuckle (normaly right above the abs sensor hole) get a short handle 5-lb sledge hammer and give it a couple of real good wacks (be carefull not to hit the edge of the fender on your down swing) keep pre loading the hub tool and wacking the chisel, it will start to seperate. once it starts to seperate move the chisel to the left a little-wack there, move to the right a little-wack there. once you have some seperation move the chisel to the area on top were the bolts come threw, wack it there on both sides. you will tear the backing plate up a little, but that can be hammered flat. keep a eye on the bearing for seperation. if you look on the backside of the flange where the head of the whhel stud is you will see about a 1/8 to 3/16 gap that is what you want to keep a eye on. NO SEPERATION THERE.. once the bearing assembly is out you will notice a rust ring on the inner edge of the bearing. clamp the bearing assembly in a vise by the wheel stud flange. I use a air gringer with a 4" cut off wheel and remove the rust ring and a very light skim on the bearing O.D. surface. after you get the steering knucle off place it in the vise also and skim the surface of the knuckle where the bearing presses into. clean both surfaces go to get rid of any rust dust, and coat the bearing O.D. with copper anti-seize (do not use aluminum color anti-seize, it will gum up) re-install everything. also i would only put moog brand ball joints in, nothing else. If the bearing did seperate a little, place it in a press with the studs up, press down on the hub (internal spline area) with the bearing resting on a good chuck of steel. becareful not to press to much or you will get a tight spot. hope this helps. the first set i ever did took about 5 hours to do both sides, now its about an hour a side.

scot

blake2500

Wow, that sounds really not fun. Mine need to be fixed, and I may pay a mechanic to do it. How much does this usually cost?

Crimedog

Make sure you leave the spindle nut tight, as this will help keep the bearing from separating when separating the bearing from the knuckle. Search through some threads by "infidel" on hub removal, there is a trick where you put an extension in between the axle housing and the bolt in the back of the hub and use the power steering to press the hub off.

oil-burner

the last two trucks i did got all 4 ball joints, track bar, and all 4 tierod ends and labor with alignment was $960.00

scot

kawi600

best method Ive found so far is infidel's method of leaving the end nut on (to keep the bearing in one piece) and using a socket extension to use the power steering like a press to drive the hub out of the knuckle.
Ball joints werent bad with a combo press / receiver kit.

BOILERMAKER

X2 on using the power steering. worked for me!

GFB

Didn't know about that trick when I did the wife's. I pulled her hub assembly apart with the puller. Oh well, just another few hundred bucks to add to the job total.

smokeyram

power steering is the only way ive had luck, i get to tear it all down again, after doing all the ball joints, i now have a bearing/hub on the way out.
Bill seems to lurk in the shadows with these handy tricks, but for that trick, anytime someone sees him, buy him a beer and send me the tab.

Hoser795

There is another trick to get the hub off. You can go to autozone and borrow a 10 1/2" three jaw puller. Use the outer shaft to press against. I also used a piece of 1/4" steel plate so it would not destroy the end of the shaft or the puller. With this method you may seperate the bearing hub but you can use a vise to press it back together as long as it doesn't come apart on you in this process.

vzdude

ANY way that I have seen or heard described, ( I have tried almost all of them!) besides the power steering method, you take the risk of messing the bearing up. The power steering method is by FAR the best way to do it. I've done mine twice now. Once for u-joints and again for ball joints. Used anti sieze and all, so the second time they came apart better. You will not regret it.......trust me........do the power steering method!

GFB

I did that with an expensive posi-lock big puller and it ripped the hub out of the bearing. DO NOT DO THIS. The other side I used the same puller to put some tension on the hub and then used an air chisel with a flat blade and went around the edges of the hub. It finally worked its way out. Some heat might on the spindle might help too.