advise for ball stud disassembly

[Harpo]

I need some advise for the removal of the ball stud from my struts. I have removed the wedge bolt. I have tried heat but still no luck. What about a pickle fork?

Thanks

David

[GH85Carrera]

Go to Harbor Freight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcCfWmrVQfM

Get one of these. The are cheap. You will use it twice and put in the bottom of the drawer.

I tried my pickle fork, all it did was make noise. When my ball joint popped out it was with a BANG using this tool. Worth every penny.

My tool looks more like this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YVWHOE/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b13ucL_c_x_2_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPD KIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=6F22DE3MPW2DAJT94EX7&pf_rd_r=6F22DE3MPW2DAJT94EX7&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=3b385c6d-5311-5075-bec2-4cfeeb7f6ba4&pf_rd_p=3b385c6d-5311-5075-bec2-4cfeeb7f6ba4&pf_rd_i=15708961

[2jmotorsports]

Totally relevant. A review of the GearWrench edition of that tool.

[GH85Carrera]

My ball joint did not fly apart, but it made a real loud POP. Pickle fork and hammer did nothing. I even tried the pickle fork on my air hammer. Just lots of noise is all that happened. A friend brought over his Gear Wrench version, and in no time, they were apart. I bought one of my own the next day. I will admit, I am a tool junkie. I had to have one even though the ball joints were done.

[Harpo]

Thanks guys,

Glen in the video it shows the tool on a different style ball joint and they are essentially lifting the knuckle off the ball stud. I need to be between the strut and the "A" arm. Can the tool be configured differently?

[Harpo]

Jose do you have a larger photo of the gear wrench tool?

Thanks

David

[2jmotorsports]

From the Amazon link:



I love GearWrench stuff. Now im going to do my ball joints as well.

[Harpo]

OK maybe I'm a little slow today. This tool want to pinch, or push the top of the ball stud out of the control arm. We don't have access to the top of the ball stud. We need to pry the strut away from the control arm.

[seafeye]

Got mine at NAPA. Works for many years of Porsche.

[seafeye]

Or get two hammers and hit hard on either side of the round part where the ball joint goes through. It will pop out.
Don’t be afraid. Hit it hard.

[Harpo]

I see how it will work on the ball joint for the steering attachment but what about the strut attachment to the "A" arm?

Thanks

David

[seafeye]

Ahhh. Ok. I’m not good at paying attention.

Try this:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_914_strut_removal/911_914_strut_removal.htm

[juanbenae]

is the strut still on the car and the a-arm still attached to the ball joint?

[Jonny042]

I use a jack to lift the spindle/strut a bit, so there's some amount of force applied upwards helping to solve the problem. Otherwise the control arm is pressing upwards. You have to jack on the spindle or even the steering arm, not on the control arm.

Once that is accomplished a bit of prying usually does it, or a BFH and a scrap of 2x4 to pound downwards against the lower control arm.

[acme911]

I use a jack on the spindle/strut as well. And then a pickle fork on an air hammer. Works everytime.

[Superman]

I used an air chisel to back off the castle nut, then put the struts on a vise. The ball joints needed to be replaced anyway, so I was not 'careful' in persuading them on the vise. I may have used the air chisel there too, but maybe something more like the prybar and long screwdriver pic above.

If you're going to take suspensions apart, do the smart thing and destroy the old ones and then use new ones. Ball joints, tie rod ends, et cetera. Then get it aligned and corner balanced, then forget about it for many years.

[Harpo]

All of the old stuff is coming off and will either be sold or scrapped. Off to the FLAPs to buy/borrow/rent a pickle fork

Thanks

David

[mepstein]

I hate the pickle fork. I'm ordering the separator tool on amazon right now. Thanks for the great tip.

[KTL]

Pickle fork sometimes works OK if you're not saving the ball joint. Because the wedge of the fork slides and pushes down on the boot and 90% of the time destroys it. Problem with most pickle forks is that the height/thickness of the wedge isn't big enough for our ball joints.

If you need to avoid damaging the ball joint (because let's say you're just removing the struts and the ball joints are known to still be good) then you can use two large pry bars against each other to lift up on the strut and push down on the A-arm to battle the resistance of the bushings in the A-arm. You're doing a reverse scissor type of levering with the two long pry bars.

seafeye is spot on with the striking approach when doing the tie rod ends. It sounds like a hack attempt but it's not. I've seen numerous pros do it and it works. The shock effect allows the energy stored in the pin-hole press fit to pop free when you strike it- HARD. Doesn't sound like it should work but it does. Don't be afraid to hit it very hard with your big Fuchs hammer (BFH).

[Harpo]

Kevin was right the pickle fork is not thick enough. after borrowing two different pickle forks and neither worked I started applying heat. After a few heat cycles I was able to use the pickle for as leverage to separate the ball stud from the strut. Major PITA

Thanks again everyone

David