To remove a balljoint

I dont own nor have I ever worked on a Toyota. On many other cars, removing a balljoint on the lower arm is rather easy without having to muck with the CV. I hope someone else has model specific information for you.

See:

and Axle.You don't need to remove the CV joint, but you need to remove thesteering knuckle. You will also need a vise to hold the steeringknuckle. So you're removing the axle nut and lower strut mounting bolts and tie rod end, then the steering knuckle should just slip right off leaving behind the axle and CV joints. Once I got the vice set up, I did not find the job difficult, but then I'd already replaced the axles. In the process of replacing the ball joints, and prying down on the lower control arm to reinstall, I split the rear rubber busing in the control arm a little bit more. So I wound up replacing those also. With new axles, ball joints and control arms, front end is set. Tie rod ends were fine.

Thinking back now, the Haynes manual had a different procedure - I believe they removed the lower control arm. I used the procedure in the Toyota factory Service and Repair manual, replaced the parts they call non reusable and followed their torque figures. In either case, I don't think the axle or CV joint comes out. By the way, to my mind, removing the lower control arm was trickier than removing the steering knuckle because the bolts were tougher. Even with over 600 ft. lbs. air gun they wouldn't budge whereas the lower strut bolts came off with standard combination wrenches linked together, and the air gun worked fine on the axle nut after about half a minute the first time. You do need a special 30mm impact socket for it. I finally found one at AutoZone for around $20.