[Chevy-Undah-Mah-Belly]

So i spoke with my local parts store (autozone) and they said that the new upper control arm and the new upper ball joint that i bought from them should fit with each other.

I verified online and it also said they should fit.

The parts guy said you probably need to heat up the upper control arm to make it more malleable.

However, im looking at youtube videos and it seems everyone who installs a new upper control arm isn't heating up there control arms and with just a few taps of a hammer, it fits.

However, i have already installed the upper control arm and new upper ball joint on one side of the vehicle and it does not seem to want to go in at all.. i tried hammering it and im afraid ima break the upper ball joint.

i also have another upper ball joint and another control arm for the other side here in my hands that is not installed and i am trying to squeeze it in..

on one side it seems the head fits in about 1/4 of the way but the other side where it should slide totally does not go in.

Is there a special tool that i can use for this situation? It seems like i need about 2-4mm more of an opening and it should fit. Perhaps my auto parts store (autozone) is wrong and it does not fit. Perhaps i need to dremel the hole inside to chip away and expand it? Should i torch the upper control arm's opening and then to hammer it in? Is there a special tool that can help expand the hole further?

The new upper ball joint seemed to fit with the OLD upper control arm but it did require some pressure as well but it did go thru. not sure what to do here.. im almost done but this 1mm to 4mm of space of not fitting in is killing me.. any advice will be greatly appreciated.

thanks

 

[Chevy-Undah-Mah-Belly]

well i took the upper control arm to a mechanic and he used an "air hammer gun" to chisel open the opening.. It worked! The only thing that sucks is that i cant find an electric air hammer gun for me to use at home.. This is like the 5th time i needed that air hammer gun but i dont see that theres an electric battery solution. THey have this massive dewalt DCF899B impact gun that i have thats a beast. but i cant find an air hammer gun. If anyone knows a tool for this kind of situation.. Please let me know! Thank you!

 

[Chevy-Undah-Mah-Belly]

First, install the ball joint in the steering knuckle! That has to be done first.
Then install the upper control arm on the vehicle.
Start the ball joint stud into the hole in the upper control arm. Use a cold chisel and tap it into the slot to widen it. Then smack the upper control arm and drive it onto the stud. Install the pinch bolt.
Trying to do what you're trying to do will never work. You must install the upper ball joint into the steering knuckle first.

Yeah thats what i did. I installed the ball joint into the steering knuckle... and i had installed the upper control arm into the frame.. and i was just trying to put it down into the joint but no success.. the air hammer gun chiseled the crap out of it.. maybe i should've used a cold chisel rather than some other type of chisel i had. but its on now.. thanks for your input though seriously. Always good to hear information from all sources. thanks man