I just installed new lower control arms on my car and in the process also replaced all the bushings, ball joints, rotors, and bearings. I'll send in a report on my experience with my new control arms in a separate message. To get my front rotor off I pulled the hub off the stub axel, and then on the workbench the rotor can be unbolted from the hub. After removing the large nut holding the hub to the sub axel, the hub/rotor assembly can be pulled off the stub axel. In my case, the inner sleeve of the bearing did not want to let go of the axel, so I had some trouble getting the hub/rotor assembly pulled off. I resorted to use of a puller than ended up wrecking my bearing (fortunately I was planning on replacing the bearing anyway). A little tapping on the inner bearing sleve that was sticking to the axel resulted in it letting go. In my case I had the lower control arms out, so replacing the ball joints in them was easy. There is a snap ring retainer on the top. After it's removed the ball joint can be pressed out. The new ball joint is pressed back in before the snap ring is replaced. Doing it on the car would be a little more cumbersome since you don't have the arm out for easy access, but doing it on the car would eliminate the need for pulling the springs out. Pulling the springs out is not that hard and you probably want to replace the inner bushing on the control arms anyway since you're doing all the work on the front. The factory lower control arms are pretty soft, so pressing the ball out isn't very hard. I found that my large bench vise was sufficient to press the ball joints out/in. You need approrpaite spacers (usually pieces of pipe or leftovers from bearing sleeves) to use for pressing. Alternatively, take them to a machine shop. The top ball joint is factory fastened using non-serviceable fasteners. Using a Dremel or other cutting tool, cut the 4 nubs off protruding from the top of the top control arm flush and the ball joint will come out. The new ball joint uses nut/bolts for fasteners. Knut --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, <ken@xxxx> wrote: > > I have my brakes apart. how the heck do I get this front rotor off the > assembly .. > > I have the caliper off. and upper and lower control arms. its all > separated I just cant get the darn rotor off!! > > While I am on the topic. what is the best way to remove the lower ball > joints from the lower control arm. and is the only way to remove the > upper ball joints to drill out the 4 bolts? > > Suggestions? What am I missing here... > > Thanks > Ken > 5541 > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]