So I needed to swap my passenger side axle and for the life of me could not get the ball joint out of the knuckle. I dont have time to fix it right now so I am taking it to a shop tomorrow. However, I cannot get the bolt that goes into the knuckle to keep the ball joint from coming out, to thread. it looks like the ball joint went in odd and it is sticking out just enough to not let me put it through

Can I drive without that bolt just to the shop to get fixed? I understand its not smart but I am out of options.

 

i wouldnt drive without that bolt. if you hit a bump wrong it could end bad. for me it helps to move the arm up and down as much as you can to try to get that bolt through.

 

I tried that. I tried jacking up the strut as far as it will go but it is like going in slanted, so where the ball joint is sticking out enough in the hole to not let my bolt go through. If i pull the ball joint out just a little bit I can get the bolt to go in.

 

The ball joint falls out pretty easy if you loosen the bolts on the control arm that hold it on (two on the subframe, 1 that goes through the control arm bushing).

I had a little trouble getting that bolt back in too though. I remember looking through the hole with a flashlight and moving the ball joint up and down a little until the path was clear enough to lightly hammer the bolt through. It all lined up perfectly once I did that.