Thread: Defender drop arm ball joint.

You're talking about the ball joint on the bottom of the drop arm, correct? If so, yeah, easy enough but getting the cup out of the drop arm seems to be the issue. You would have a cup that the ball joint sits in and it sits in the drop arm. I think you'd need to apply heat to it to get the little cup out (but I could be and often am wrong). It's not your steering damper as well, is it? I had a real lot of trouble trying to get the rubber boot to sit correctly after I installed it.

Originally Posted by Didge

You're talking about the ball joint on the bottom of the drop arm, correct? If so, yeah, easy enough but getting the cup out of the drop arm seems to be the issue. You would have a cup that the ball joint sits in and it sits in the drop arm. I think you'd need to apply heat to it to get the little cup out (but I could be and often am wrong). It's not your steering damper as well, is it? I had a real lot of trouble trying to get the rubber boot to sit correctly after I installed it.

That's the one! It's not the damper. When you giggle the steering wheel and he play is plan to see. The manual says it should tap out with a drift. This looks to be the awkward bit about doing it in situ. I'm not overly keen to apply heat to a steering component.
But I'll give the job a go if you think it's feasible. I wish I had my shed back!!

I don't mean apply heat whilst it's all in position - heat was only to get that little cup out of the drop arm. I bought a cheap ball joint remover that is basically like a big two pronged fork on steroids and you just hammer it in from the side and the ball joint will then drop out but that cup will remain in the drop arm. If that's not rusted, it could probably stay (I left it in once and it was ok but I think my mechanic also left the cup in when he replaced the ball joint). I'd agree that it should come out with a drift - maybe first spray a bit of lubricant in and leave overnight?

After recently going through the same thing. You will find that the ball joint top cup is extremely difficult to remove (in my case anyway) and will be extremely difficult to do in situ. The pitman arm is also very tough to budge, if you don't have a good pitman puller (i broke mine) the easiest might just be to by a new arm with ball joint and get the local tyre/suspension shop to out the new one in for you.

Agreed, removal of the ball joint is difficult but not impossible. You just have to keep working at it. The fork drift is good and works better if heat is first applied.

Tip. Throw away the clip that's supposed to hold the new rubber boot in place and use a length of seizing wire instead. It'll save hours of bad language!

The tool helps.
Usually wise to buff the bore of the droparm before installing the new cup. Getting the internal circlip on that holds the bottom plate is also a pain in the butt.


Ball Joint Fitment and Removal Tool - Paddock Spares


Should be easy enough to make something similar.


If you are really lucky the droparm will come away from the steering box and allow you to do the ball joint with a hydraulic press.

DIY - Ball joint removal tool.

It's been awhile since I did one, but I used a long bolt, a couple of thick washers and then a socket as a spacer, to pull it out. The socket can sit on the rim of the arm and pull on the bolt running through it. Looking at the pic of the tool in the above post will give you the idea.

Did one a while ago and getting the joint out of the arm took some force. From memory a two legged puller (pusher) did the trick

I got the removal kit from Paddocks which is basically a couple of thick washers, a spacer and a nut & bolt.
The spring in it makes re-assembly 'interesting'. Ended up using an old motorbike valve spring compressor to hold it all together while I inserted the clip.

Colin