Removing ball joints
 

Hey guys,
I am replacing my ball joints whilst"in there" to do Turbo Tie Rods.

In Wayne's book, it says to tap the ball joint out of the strut after removing the pin. Do I just keep pounding away? It is soaking in PB Blaster right now.
I had no other problems with other fasteners so far. The tie rods were simple!
The old ones were less than stellar. SCARY!!!


:eek:

Thanks,
Wayne
81SC

Wayne,

Do you have a suspension 'Pickle Fork' such as KD Tools 2288 and made by other specialty tool companies?

mytoolstore.com

Since you will be replacing the ball joint, the damage to the grease boot won't matter!

Yup. Tried that already. All it seemed to do was beat up the grease boot. I 'll try it again tomorrow after letting them soak overnight.
Thanks,

A couple of things to note are that the shock is trying to extend the strut while the t-bar may be keeping the A-arm from falling.
What worked for me(not sure if this is "correct") was to put front on jackstands and jack up the strut a bit from under the rotor just to raise it- but NOT carry the weight of the chassis(watch the front jack stands). This isolates the strut and the t-bar is now sprung to drop back to neutral. Only problem now is to seperate the wedge-joint.
Hammer a little bit sideways on the bottom of the strut (the rounded side next to the threaded split- but not on it!!!) to flex/vibrate the strut opening from perfect roundness which should pop the ball joint out, seal intact, with a loud "snap". You can put a pile of rags on a jack to catch under the ball joint if desired.

Ball joint castle-nut removal is through several methods: cut off with an oxy/acetlyene torch, big-ash vice grips or plumber wrench if room, or use chisel to spin and reinstall as well. The factory socket tool is only for installation and even then is a cheap piece 'o crap.