Disconnecting strut from ball joint

[Navaros911]

Guys & Girls(?),

As many have done before me, I have also embarked on a mission to update my suspension. After reading pretty much all articles and posts on PP I figured I had all the information required for the job. But I should have known better.

I'm having difficulties with what looks like the easiest part of the job at hand.

Removing that &%*$# pin that secures the strut to the A-arm. According to everyone I should just ba able to punch it through... Well, that doesn't work, so I'll try pressing it out tomorrow.

Now I've noticed two things:
1. the nut was not on the front but on the rear
2. it is a solid pin as far as I can see, there is no gap as displayed in 101 Projects/Haynes

Could either of these two have something to do with it?
Anybody knows of an alternative way of getting it out?

The subject is a 1977 Coupe.

Thanks in advance,
Michiel

[Jeff Alton]

That looks right. Use a punch and a BFH.

Jeff

[Navaros911]

Originally posted by catca
That looks right. Use a punch and a BFH.

Jeff

I tried that to the extend where I went deaf I think It truly is not moving at all... so I sprayed some WD-40 on it and will let it sit overnight.

Is this bolt in the shape of a cone (conical or whatever it is called)? This would be a problem if it was put in reversed.

[rlh930]

I don't think there's any way to get the pin in backwards; the taper would keep it from going in.

I changed the front struts recently on my '73, and one of the pins came out easily and the other was quite stubborn. But eventually it yielded to a hand sledge.

By the way, if you remove the ball joint from the strut first, you're going to have to take the A-arm completely off and chuck it in a big vise to remove the ball joint castle nut. Is that your plan?

[Navaros911]

Originally posted by rlh930
By the way, if you remove the ball joint from the strut first, you're going to have to take the A-arm completely off and chuck it in a big vise to remove the ball joint castle nut. Is that your plan?

Yup, that's the plan... A-arm bushings will be replaced in the process, so they needed to come off anyway.

Maybe the pin in my car is not the original pin. I'll give it another go tomorrow, with the sledge... if that doesn't do it, pressing may work and as a last resort there is always the drill.

[DW SD]

Put a nut on it before the BFH treatment. The pin is wedge shaped opposite of the threads.
You can use an air hammer, which beats the BFH by a mile.

Doug

[jhora]

Michiel,
After doing this many times....What I have found to be the easiest thing to do is....order two new pins and nuts. This way you can bang the crap out of it. It wedges itself it there and gets rusty...if the strut is off the car then a press works well...on the car the big hammer is your friend. If you have lots of time to spend then spray with WD40 or the like and wait...repeat many times...can also take a butane torch to it to heat up then bang...
some are easy most are not.
Here are a couple of pictures so you know want you are dealing with. One is the ball joint and one the pin with nut. Notice the wedge shape on the pin and the slot in the top of the ball joint.
Good luck...

John

[73911guy]

I ended up very carefully step drilling the one that wouldn't pop loose when I did my '73 911. I started from the large diamter end of the pin & it finally relieved enough of the strength of the pin when I got close to the diameter of the pin it popped out. This was after a lot of soaking with Kroil, swinnging a BFH at the stud with a nut on the end, etc..

I'm not up to using a torch under the car but it might have helped but I didn't want to damage the strut. Or set the car on fire....

Jim

[Chuck Moreland]

John

It appears you are picturing an early-style ball joint (pre-72) but a late style pin. The early-style has a round notch and accepts a regular bolt. 72+ has a wedge-shape notch and accepts the wedge pin as pitcured.

It is very important to properly match the correct ball joint, strut, and pin. Safety issue.

Michael, BFH

[jhora]

Chuck,

Thanks..that is true...just trying to give a relative picture... to know what he is dealing with...have seen both types on the same car before.

John

[Shuie]

BFH...

Maybe the pin is binding? Is the strut hanging at its full travel? If so, try slightly compressing it with a floor jack, then BFH.

[450knotOffice]

All I can add is be prepared for that pin to come shooting out of there like a bullet once it lets go. Both of mine did.

"Bang! katink, katink, katink, clink" (as it bounces across the floor and hits the wall on the other side of the garage")

[Evans, Marv]

I would try to go the PB Blaster route with maybe a little heat. I found that the thread end of the pin to be pretty soft metal. When I did the BFH routine, the threaded end started to deform. You might try to put two nuts on the threads. The might help it from deforming so much and just loosen them when the pin is loosened and knocked in.

[Early_S_Man]

I do not understand this willingness to pound on a 911 front suspension with a BFH!!! The pins aren't reusable ... but you don't have to destroy it to get it out!

The solution is a BF C-clamp ... say 12" or bigger! Put the M8 nut back on the wedge pin, flush with the end of the stud ... back up the other end of the pin with a 14 mm socket [not used much on German cars, so it is disposable] ... line up socket, C-clamp, and M8 nut as coaxially centered as close as possible ... and start tightening the C-clamp. You may need a cheater pipe on the C-clamp slide bar! The pin won't be flying into orbit or endangering small children or pets! It only has to move one silly millimeter to come loose!

[Charlie V]

I used wd40, let soak overnight, nut on, large rounded end punch and a BFH. I recall about 5 good hits on each side.

[Navaros911]

Thanks for the advice everyone... I'll be at it after getting out of bed (long live WiFi & this forum)

I'll post an update what & how it worked.

[Navaros911]

Finally it's out...

Here's what worked (a combination of ideas from this board):
1. Let it soak in WD-40 overnight
2. Use a C-clamp, a 14-mm socket and the nut
3. Use the BFH ON the c-clamp
4. Take the c-clamp away and hammer your arms off

Some of these steps may not have made a difference, but in the end it wroked.

The pin is bent so it can not be reused even if I wanted... first things now, replace the A-arm bearings & get rid of the old tie-rods (time for the turbo tie-rods). In the mean time wait for the new ball joint, pin, etc.. to arrive.

Thanks for the advice everybody.

[Todd Simpson]

Chuck is right about the mix of parts you have there. I tracked my car for 2 years that way without knowing it.

The balljoint was chewed up from the wedge style pin and they were tough to get apart. The wedge bolt only contacts the round style balljoint in 2 places. The wedge bolts also do not go in as far as they need to, but it appears yours were bent to compensate.

In the end I replaced both balljoints and got all new hardware including nuts and washers. Cheap insurance.

[Navaros911]

Tod,

I think the pin was bent by me, hammering away like a maniac...

The parts look like a mix from different years maybe... so I'll replace all of them.