Is this as easy as it looks like it will be while I am under my car looking at them? do they need to be pressed in or anything special that my modestly stocked tool collection cannot handle?

No they don't need to be pressed. It's a simple replacement. You will need some kind of wedge, to drive in between the tabs of the clamped portion holding ball joint into the knuckle. Don't pry too hard on those tabs though, the casting can be cracked if you pry it too far open.

my bolt broke on me be sure to soak it in kroil if it has undue resistance

Kewl, that was what it looked like, thanks a bushel for the replies, I appreciate it.

 

What about the upper portion of the ball joint, anything to look out for there?

I've found that a small chisel works extremely well to wedge into the crack in knuckle. Just be very carefull, they don't like it if you wedge too far. And yes, a good penatrating oil is a must. Don't bother with wd-40 or liquid wrench, you may as well squirt water on them.

 

Would probably be in your best interest to loosen, but not fully remove the nut holding the ball joint to the lower control arm(19mm IIRC). Then remove the pinch bolt(14mm IIRC). Get your wdge of choise andstick it in there, lightly tap it so that tension is removed from the knuckle and the ball joint. You can use a floor jack and piece of 2X4 and jack up from under the hub to pull the joint from the knuckle. Then remove the castle nut from the threads. Clean up the part of the knuckle where the new joint will go, and clean out the threads for the pinch bolt.

 

Insert new ball joint into lca and start the nut. Then position the knuckle on the top of the ball joint. Make sure it is straight in the hole. Use you floor jack and wood and jack from the lca untill the new joint is properly seated in the knuckle. Install pinch bolt, torque the castle bolt to spec, install cotter key. Put the wheel on, lower the car, and you are done.

Wow! Who needs chiltons with a rundown like that! Thanks alot Bratman!!

i dont have much advice other than use pb blaster instead of wd-40, wd-40 is water compaired to pb blaster

and PB Blaster is water compared to sea foam deep creep. honest. I love(d) PB but dont bother with it anymore.. although, the price IS coming down some now..

i use both actually, but as far as the rust breaking part, i really havent used deep creek much for that yet, lol. i guess ive been using blaster too long to want to try other stuffs for breaking rusted bolts loose.

 

and PB Blaster is water compared to sea foam deep creep. honest. I love(d) PB but dont bother with it anymore.. although, the price IS coming down some now..

I bought some deep creap last week but haven't got a chance to try it out on any big jobs just yet.

i have pliers and diagonal cutters that had been left in the rain and rusted stuck.. i treated them liberally with deep creep, initially just a drop of motor oil, and repeated opening and closing. Most of these pliers still show wet areas around the box joint if you pick them up and open and shut them a few times.

 

Even PB doesn't work to permanently repair rusted pliers, in my experience. These things have stood up for well over a year, and its more than one pair; in fact, i only have one pair of a decent brand, the others arent even good tools in the first place but they still feel like new now.

 

I LOVE deep creep, so i never miss a chance to plug it fully.

Getting back to the balljoint...

 

One of my manuals (FSM, Haynes, How To Keep Your Subaru Alive) says to pull back the rubber "housing" on the balljoint and fill with grease (the other two don't, IIRC). I thought those came pre-lubed and sealed, but my feeling with this is, "never enough grease":-\ .

 

Opinions, advice, experiences, comments?

they say "prelube" so you wont grease them so you weare them out faster and buy more, ive even drilled and tapped the bottom of the ball joint and installed a zerk fitting, never have enough grease , living in swamp and salt country...