Does the upper ball joint on a 1996 2WD 3500 with IFS screw out or is it pressed in? Bottom one came right out with a ball joint press and one whack from a sledge hammer but the upper one is giving me trouble. I have a ball joint press. If its press fitted, which direction should it be pressed to remove it, up or down? Thanks for any info.

 

Press in. This one might take two whacks.

 

Do I need to press it down from the top? It seems like this upper one has a much bigger "cap" on it than the lower one did... no snap ring, right?

 

The shaft of joint will press through control arm. It should go up through control arm. Should not be a snap ring. Once you get it out, take some fine sand paper and lightly clean the bore in control arm and apply a generous amount of anti-seize to both arm and joint before pressing in new joint. Put anti-seize on all threads and shafts, you will appreciate it later.

 

Ok, up through the control arm. That makes more sense, it sure didn't look like it'd fit through the other direction.

Thanks for the help ya'll... hopefully I can get them all out today. Then the only thing left is to get that stubborn pitman arm off .

 

Pitman arm puller and it will come right off.