ball joint removal

GMR911 · 07:13 PM

Hi, after spending the better part of 2 days trying remove the ball joint pin from the strut housing I am really at my wits end. The pin will freely move up and down in the strut but when it reaches a certain point it will just stop and bind. Tried one pickle fork, two pickle forks, a big pry bar, just about everything I found on these archives. The pin is definitely binding in the strut as it is coming out the last inch of the strut. I was thinking of taking the a-arm (while the pin is still attached) off and trying to release the binding effect of the a-arm. Any ideas? I still have the other side to do

Thanks, Jerry

Moke81 · 02-05-2006, 07:31 PM

I'm a bit confused, the pickle fork is used to remove the tierod end. To remove the pin to get the ball joint out you need some heat and a punch to hit the pin through. Then the ball joint will come out.

Steve Marshall · 02-05-2006, 07:52 PM

Have you pulled the top of the strut out of srut tower and compressed and pulled it to the outside of the fender? I would try this prior to removing the A-arm.

GMR911 · 02-06-2006, 05:52 PM

Hi, have not removed the struts out of the strut tower- really did not want to do that right now. I thought the ball joint would drop out of the strut with only moderate force or so. The pickle fork was completely driven in as far as it would go and I lifted on it up and down a good 6 inches. Used a large pry bar with no avail also. Something seems not right. Moke81- I had previously driven the wedge bolt out. I was refering to the pin of the ball joint that inserts into the bottom of the strut that should drop out of the strut once the wedge bolt is driven out. It drops down so far but stops and won't come out! Thanks again for any ideas, Jerry

oneblueyedog · oneblueyedog's Garage

Try some pb blaster. The retainer pin that holds the strut on the a-arm comes out one way. You "have that out" is my guess. If you are going to destroy the ball joint with pickle forks then whack it with a soft face dead blow hammer down.

When I did mine, I used the car's mass to take the ball joint nut off. I'm making it sound easy. It's not. The special tool I got will not remove it without destroying the tool. You cut it off! I used a Dremel reinforced cut off wheel for each cut. It took four (two for each) Then I bought a air impact hammer and kept at it until the nut split. You have to be careful not to cut any of the a-arm.

The big trick that I found from the archives to reinstall it is to have it all assembled with strut installed and then get a long breaker bar extension on the breaker bar with the tool installed on the ball joint nut. You then use a floor jack to hold the tool against the nut with the bar out the side to apply the horrific torque. I used anti seize on the threads. Then you tighten it up. If you don't use the jack the tool will ride up on the nut and round off the tips making it useless. $60 bucks of useless tool on a Sunday is no good.

Check the archives. I wish you bravery and better luck than I had.

GMR911 · 02-06-2006, 06:49 PM

Blueye, used to live in the DFW area in the early 80's. great place to live! Moved back to upstate NY for a girl-big mistake. Anyway- I have the wedge bolt driven out-trying to now drop the ball joint(which is still attached to the a-arm) out of the bottom of the strut. The ball joint won't come out of the strut? Then I plan to take the a-arms off with the ball joint still attached to the a-arm, Thanks Jerry

kucharskimb · 02-06-2006, 07:08 PM

a standard pickle fork is usually not thick enough to reach the surfaces of the ball joint and the bottom of the strut. you either need two, or some other chunk of metal to slip in there along with the fork. the fact that you can lift the fork handle tells me it is not making contact with both surfaces.

also, you might be hitting the lower control arm with the fork before you are getting the fork all the way in there. if you jack up the bottom of the ball joint, you will create more space on the back side for the pickle fork.

pickle forks are used anytime you need to separate a tapered joint. examples are tie rod ends, upper/lower ball joints, idle arms, pitman arms, etc.

FWIW, after i took off my control arms, it was worth the $80 labor charge to have my local mechanic remove and replace the ball joints for me. i could never find a tool that i liked to remove the nuts. if you consider a makeshift tool would cost you $30, how much is $50 worth of frustration to you?...

Green 912 · 07:42 PM

4wd hub tool for auto parts store is about $10 bucks. They fit OK and work well for removing the ball joint ring. Heat the ring and soak a time or two with Liqued Wrench.

I saw an a arm with a notch driven through it by a pickel fork. The guy with the hammer was too busy looking at where he was hitting to look at what he was doing. The ball joint is likely toast by now, perhaps it is hammer time. strike the edge of the A arm with a brass hammer to drive it nd the ball joint down an off the strut. Spray in some lube prior and heat the outside of the strut end some.

Steve Marshall · 02-07-2006, 06:06 AM

I bet if you take the strut down and rotate it to the outside of the fender it will come right off. You've stated that it moves up and down but won't come out. It sounds like it is binding.

GMR911 · 02-07-2006, 06:40 PM

Thanks for the replys. Tommorow, Weds, my mechanic is going to come over and look at it-probably worth it to bring the car to him to take it off. It just seems so simple once that ball joint is removed to do the rest of the work? Matt, yes your right that the pickle fork is not wide enough to separate the ball joint from the strut. You definately need something wider or something in between to wedge in that joint with the pickle fork. Well anyways just waiting to see what my mechanic says weds. Steve, yes you are probably right if I take the strut our the ball joint should slip out because I think you could get a better angle. Since I plan to take the a-arms off anyway, my next thing was to just pull out the torsion bar, remove the bolts , remove the a-arm and slip the ball joint out of the strut that way? Jerry

jyl · jyl's Garage

What bad luck.

I assume the front is jacked up, wheels removed, with the suspension hanging at full droop.

Hard to imagine that striking downward on the A-arm with a large hammer (use wood scrap between hammer and A-arm, to avoid damage), plus the force of the torsion bars trying to press the A-arm down, won't extract the ball joint shaft from the strut.

If that doesn't work, I would disconnect the top of the strut, compress the strut, pivot the top of the strut out of the fenderwell, and see if that unbinds it, or allows you to get a better angle on the pickle fork tool. You'll want to tape something protective over the fender and fender lip - a couple layers of old cardboard box, etc, whatever it takes to prevent the strut from flailing around and hurting the paint.

To remove the ball joint from the A-arm, I used the method of drilling the ball joint nut, then using a cold chisel to split the nut off the threaded ball joint body.

To install the new ball joint on the A-arm, I used the special socket tool, plus a floor jack pressing up on the ball joint nut / special socket, to prevent the socket from slipping and rounding off.

Reinstall everything using antiseize.

GMR911 · 02-07-2006, 07:15 PM

Yes all jacked up, wheels off, must just be the angle of the a-arm to the strut that is causing binding. Just seems strange that this is not more of a common problem, lucky me.

jyl · jyl's Garage

But it builds character.

lateapex911 · 02-07-2006, 09:08 PM

it is a very strange problem. Mine dropped right out once I had the pin removed. Which was harder than it should have been.

Try jacking the strut up and then driving down on the A arm if you think the angle is causing the binding.

Also, look carefully for other items keeing the a arm from dropping further, It might be some weird thing, and not the ball joint shaft at all!

LM3929 · 02-08-2006, 09:07 AM

if you are talking about the stud portion of the ball joint i think you will end up takingt he strut out after cutting the stud off with at power hack saw, that's what I had to do.

safe · safe's Garage

Ball joint nut removal:
Big a** pipe wrench!

ryanmt · 02-08-2006, 10:55 AM

I had the same problem you are seeing. I came to find out that my a-arm bushings were cold formed to the shape of the a-arms they wouldn't move any more. This was limiting the rotation of the a-arm. I figured it was the ball joint binding, but in the end it was actually those rubber bushings on the a-arm. Have you disconnected your sway bar? The also will limit rotation on the a-arms.

Breeang · 02-08-2006, 12:16 PM

You are correct about one pickle fork not being not being thick enough to pop out the ball joint.I used two, a second one being used at an angle across the top of the first ( a double wedge) you can also use a jack to raise the A-arm a little to give you some extra clearance between the arm and the ball joint. And a good shot of the indespensible PB Blaster.

safe · safe's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by ryanmt
I had the same problem you are seeing. I came to find out that my a-arm bushings were cold formed to the shape of the a-arms they wouldn't move any more. This was limiting the rotation of the a-arm.

I think you have misunderstood how the the rubber bushings work.
They are bonded to the a-arm and mounts at a certain angle. They work by twisting the rubber, that actually adds a little to the spring rate.

GMR911 · 02-08-2006, 05:50 PM

To all that have replied, Thank You, Finally removed the ball joint pin from the strut using a 5 foot steel bar pried under the belly of the car pushing down on the a-arm, pushing inward on the strut as I leveraged the bar downward while I was fondly remembered the page in the Haynes manual showing the mechanic using a screw driver to do the same job! Thanks again, now on to the other side.