'97 Taurus GL 147k: Front Pass. Ball Joint Removal Proc
After reading some stuff on the Web and the manual of a Harbor Freight Ball Joint Removal/Install tool (C-Clamp style #3385), I’m a little confused as to how the ball joint will be removed from my particular vehicle.
I’ve bought the replacement ball joint from Ford and it is circular and flat on one end with the tapered middle and threaded stud on the other end. When installed, the circular flat end sits flush with the top surface of the knuckle receptacle and the stud points downward toward the ground where it goes through the arm.
The Harbor Freight manual on their tool seems to indicate I will be both forcing out the old ball joint AND pressing in the new ball joint from the same side: the circular flat end - meaning I will be pushing downward toward the ground in both cases by exerting pressure on the flat, circular side of the joint. Is this correct? I saw other examples on the Web that seemed to indicate joints being extracted (or installed) by pressing on the stud side of the joint.
It seems reasonable to me that you wouldn’t want to exert any pressure on the stud itself, as this could damage the internal joint, but I would think my joint would press IN from the top, but push OUT from the bottom.