97 F-150 4x4 Im replacing ball joints in my truck did the passenger side and the biggest issue was getting the ball joints to slide out of the spindle but once they were out, removing the ball joints and replacing/reassembling them went easy... got to the driver's side loosened the CV shaft nut and went to pop out the ball joints and they came out pretty easy, went to pull the CV shaft outta the hub and it wont budge on this side but the other side slide right out, i tried heating it briefly but didnt want to to much, so i put a gear puller on it and it still didnt pop out even with the impact, so i left it under pressure of the gear puller to night and soaked it with WD40... is there something im missing? a secret to making it come out that i didnt have to do to the other side?

 

anyone??...

 

I have had the same issue putting new ball joints in. Put the largest 3 jaw puller on I have and cinched up and use a 3 pound hammer and have at it. Had to do this untill it was over half way off before it started to co-operate. Little tippy taps will not do the trick. I got gun shy about doing the other side and have not tried that yet. I am sure the bearings are all brinelled up and will need replacing at some point.

 

I went out there this morning hit ti with some more oil, broke out the breaker bar (2') gave it about a turn before i couldnt turn any more, so i put a persuader on it (3' piece of pipe) it turned about another 2 turns and it stopped, so i broke out the 4 pound sledge and went to hitting on it, then tried the pipe and breaker bar again, and got about a half turned and it poped and slide bout a 1/8th inch, so i kept on turning stopping about ever 2 turns to give it a little tap tell i was bout half way out the it came on out with just the puller. but i had to press it as far as i could with the puller on its max reach then stop take it off and put it down a knotch and press it the rest of the way out.

the CV shaft was not full of mud/sand/junk like i figured it was, but it was coated in rust so before putting it back in I hit it with a wire brush and cleaned most the rust of it then soaked it in WD40 and right before i put it back in i coated it with grease and it slid in a little easier than it did coming out but still wasn't the easiest, but the Ball joints are on and i saved the 2-300 bucks the shop's wanted to fix them. all in all i have about 5 hours in it but considering everything that was stuck and the fact that i worked on the CV shaft it's self for 2 hours i dont suppose it was to bad.

 

Never had one quite that tight. About 50% of them slide out, the others need the pulller or press as you did. Sometimes a smack with a 5 pound will help, but never heard of one that tight. Wire brush the splines and a coat of antisieze will help for hext time. Your thin coat of grease should also do the trick. YOu got the 3 bolts out without problems ? Sometimes they have loctite on them and are a real PITA.

 

I recently replaced both hubs and axles on my 98, just for preventative maintenance, since they were original parts.

I had the same problem, one axle slid right out, and the other would not come out with a giant 3 jaw puller and impact wrench. So i disconnected the entire knuckle from the truck, took it in the garage and proceeded to beat the threaded end of the axle with a hand sledge for about a minute and it finally started to move. Keep in mind, I only did this, cause I didn't need the old axle. If one is keeping the axle, don't use this method.

 

I didnt try to remove those, just had to slide the axle out enough to get to the lower ball joint, but i will one day stary collecting hub's and cv shafts to start replacing just because the truck has around 200xxx on it (odometer quit working last year at 175xxx) and i do use 4wd a good bit becuase its my hunting truck and it see's a good bit of mud

I got pissed off at first and wacked the axle with out thinking.... mushroomed then end up but since the thread's dont start right at the end i was able to clean it up with the grinder and all was good

 

Congrats on getting her done without having to remove it from the truck! Wierd how only one axle got stuck with both of us. My stuck axle was on passenger side. How about yours?

 

Mine was driver's side passenger's slide right out on its own i never touched it....