Keep in mind this is for a Grand Vitara where you have to replace the whole a-arm to replace the ball joints.  They are a 1 peice unit, not seperate like on Track/Kicks.

So last month when I started my lift and failed... ...I had some problems getting the p-side knuckle off of my ball joint stud.  I thought I did something to my ball joint while messing with it, trying to get the knuckle off without the correct tools.
I've attached some pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about.

Here's the passenger side that I messed with...and maybe messed up:


If you look closely you can see how the boot is not seated against the knuckle.  It sorta...I think...looks to me like there's a grove there that the boot is supposed to sit up against.

Here's the virgin driver's side for comparison.


Note how they go right up against the knuckle.

Here's a picture of a ball joint on an extra arm I have here:

Notice the lip on the ends of the boot, as if it was supposed to go up against the knuckle and seal itself.

So did I do something wrong?  I think so.  Can I fix it?  How would you seat it against the knuckle?  I was looking at it with a flashlight and poking at it with a flathead screwdriver to see what was going on and suddenly it made this POP and I realized it had moved up on the ball joint stud away from the knuckle.   My wife has driven on it for the last month like that with no problems but I'm worried about longevity, especially with Michigan salt encrusted winters.
So do I need to replace it with the other passenger side arm I have or can I reseat the boot?
Either way I need to know how to seat that boot on the arm.

...Bueller?

...Bueller?

not here.



My guess is the boot just got shoved up over the lip

So uhm, know of any way to shove it back down?

The boot just holds the grease in around
the ball joint, you didn't damage anything,
it just needs to be pushed down into that
groove, or leave it as is, either way it will
work properly

so how to push it back down?  Screwdriver or something?

u meen u can't change the ball joint? well that sucks ...are they press in one's?

They're cast in when they make the lower control arm.  No way to get them out now that the metal is hardened.

The only alternative that I've found is the Calmini lower control arm...which as I've been doing this seems like it really would have been a good idea to save longer and go for...