Help Can't break hub from knuckle

[eksdee905]

2000 YUKON XL 1500 SLT 4WD

I started hearing a choppy/grinding noise when making right turns. Thinking it was a bad CV. Nope front left wheel bearing was shot.

I managed to get the brakes and even the CV axle out in 30 min. The 3 hub bolts also came out easy with a breaker bar. But I cant for the life of me get the hub loose from the knuckle. I first tried knocking on the partially backed out bolts and no luck. Then started banging away with my 5lb sledge no dice.

All the while soaking with penetrating oils. Tired hammering a pry bar in between
no luck. After about 3 hours I was getting pretty tired so I went and rented a pull hammer and after about 2-3 more hours all i managed to do was pull out the bearing and the spindle.. the hub wont FREAKING GIVE!


Bigger hammer heating with MAP Gas torch ( I dont have access to an acetylene ) and more whacking the outer race of the bearing is bending in pretty good but I still cant get it to separate.

It looks like these are original parts. When I pulled the hub bolts out they were clean and dry. only corroded on the end that was out past the hub.

So how can the hub be stuck so tight? I've watched a few Youtube videos trying to see if there was maybe a special technique but nope . they all seemed to just pop right off
--

After all that BS I decided to take the whole spindle off to a shop to see if they could press the hub out


But after beating the snot out of the upper balljoint and finally managing to get a pry bar in and separating it the lower seems to be stuck just as bad as the hub. I have hammered at this all afternoon and evening.

Can someone give me some advice on how to break free the lower ball joint and or the hub. Thanks a ton

 

[M Hankel]

Both of the lower balljoints on mine were a complete ***** to break loose. I bent both of my forged pickle forks and ended up buying a balljoint separator, in conjunction with my pickle fork to get them loose. An impact hammer might work for jarring it loose if you have air available.

Good luck man.

Mike

 

[eksdee905]

I haven't got air tools here unfortunately. I will try to get a ball joint separator tomorrow. I considered getting one of those fork tools but couldn't find one wide enough to fit around the boots. I did try fitting a 3 ft pry bar in there but had a hard time finding a good spot to pry from still wouldn't budge

 

[alc5m]

my hub was stuck in the knuckle too, seemed like a ring of rust held it in there, i was able to heat the knuckle and use a BFH to pop it out if i remember right, i think i also used an air chisel to try and get between the hub and the knuckle

and the lower ball joint i used like an 8 pound lead hammer that i have and beat up on stud to pop it loose, cause if you use a pickle fork youre gonna destroy the boot, otherwise, stick a floor jack underneath the lower control arm and start beating down on the knuckle, it will come loose, if you dont have the floor jack under it you wont be doing anything cause all of the shock will go thru the play in the bushings and you'd just be wasting energgy

 

[livingez_123]

I would keep soaking it with a good penetrating oil, it might be so rusted on there you might have to pull the knuckle off and have it pressed out. now if had access to some liquid Nitrogen I would trickle a small amount on the hub to see if it will shrink enough to get it off.

 

[eksdee905]

Thanks guys

I saw about 2 seconds away from sawing the F***ing balljoint off. and i managed to smash it off using a pickle fork (which ruined the boot even tough I tried to pry it up and out of the fork as much as possible).

It soaked all night with penetrating oil and I spent most of the morning hammering at the spindle like a man possessed. I tried using one of those ball joint lever tools but no dice the forks were too narrow and even on the widest opening I was sill a hair away from getting the lower part under the nut to press on it. Even with the pickle fork It still took a good 2 hours of hammering at first I hammered it all the way in and nothing it seemed like the gap way too big between the spindle and the control arm. So i put on a 4ft length of pipe and started prying that fork.. NOTHING!!
Its baffling how stuck that taper was. about 2 hours later I decided I was going to get a sawzall and just chop it out I needed to get that spindle out mainly to deal with that hub. Thankfully i gave the fork a few more smashed with my sledge and I heard a satisfying bang.

The taper was almost mirror like same as the hole. No rust nothing.

Could the 2 surfaces have fused some how ? Like when you twist 2 Gage blocks together you cant pull them apart unless you twist them back apart?

Once the spindle was off a few sharp blows with a large chisel and hammer on the back/inside edge of the hub and it was out. There was a large rust ring all on the inside bore. Looks like none of the penetrating oil made it in that far.

The shop I borrowed the fork from said he had never seen someone pull this style of bearing through the front of the hub. After grinding out all the rust and prepping all the surfaces Everything is back together and the original grinding is gone but now the ball joint is popping which i figured would happen but Im not even going to bother trying to press those in and out I'm bringing it to a shop next week to get those done.

In all my years of bashing on my own cars I have never had to deal with such a stubborn ball joint. I hope none of you ever come across one as big a pain as this one has been.

 

[Gzes]

I can only imagine how bad it was. I just blught a ball joint seperator and its fairly easy down south since no rust. Next time i would let the shop do it lol. Not worth the extreme effort

 

[alc5m]

if you have a balljoint remover installer super set, its all a breeze, i did it by myself even with those heavy ass spindles that tony has on the drop kits, lol

 

[livingez_123]

Rust is bad stuff. I live in the PNW and I'm so glad I don't have to worry about it.

 

[kschumake83]

I wish I would have seen this post when you posted it, my trick works well.

I had a Silverado that I could not get the hub assembly out for the life of me, I ended up having to do ball joints and all when I took the spindle off to get it pressed out. I had to do the other side about a month later and thought about it before I started. Here is what worked great for me.

1. Find an old brake rotor from the truck and turn it around backwards. (don't use the ones that are going back on the truck)

2. Take 2 blocks of wood and put them in between the rotor and spindle.

3. Preferably use an electric or air impact and tighten the lugs on the rotor in the same pattern as you would tighten a wheel. (a breaker bar works also its just a little harder)

4. Watch it fall to the ground.

Hope this helps anyone searching for this in the future, sorry I did not see this until you already messed up the ball joints.