Help--Cant Separate Ball Joint on beater car

[BASS]

Ok, I am trying to separate the lower control arm where it connects to the steering knuckle, and I bought one of those tapered ball joint separater forks. I hammered it in all the way to the end of the fork, and the fork just went it all the way without dislodging the control arm ball joint from the steering knuckle Anyone know why this happened or have any ideas of how I can separate them?? Maybe I should get one of those pitman arm removers (that look like a U with a threaded rod in the middle)??

 

[Grumpy]

hit it with a small sledge hammer.. they come right off

 

[corsair231]

There are a couple of different sizes of the pickle forks. Yours may be a little large. Like grumpy said, hit it with a heavy hammer. If you are replacing the joint you can hit the joint thread end itself but usually a strike near the end of the control arm will "vibrate" it loose. If you decide you need a different size fork then most chains with a "loaner tool" program should have a kit with the different sizes in it. You will have to pay a deposit but you will get your money back when it's returned.

 

[turboc87gn]

BFH!!!! BIG F...ING HAMMER Smack it right on the thick part of the knuckle not on top where the nut is but on the side....

 

[Junior Samples]

Torches and BFH...heat and beat, heat and beat

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Loosen the ball joint nut first.:biggrin:

Seriously, Grumpy's got the ticket. Hit on the flat side of the steering knuckle where the stud of the ball joint goes thru with a BFH (big frigging hammer, 3 lb. ball peen). 3 or 4 times usually works for me.

 

[TexasT]

Do you have the spring out or at least contained in some manner? This is important. Did you take the castle nut off(Had to ask)?

Heat, BFH as suggested, air hammer with or without fork attachment. More heat. Maybe your not hitting it hard enough.

 

[85Dan85TType]

I'll tell you what my buddy told me when we were doing all of my control arm bushings on my SC300... Treat it like you're a dude!

In all seriousness, we used a deadblow and just beat the living hell out of it for a long time, eventually it came apart. I have always been told that it's okay to use a pickle fork if you want to destroy the boot and therefore eventually the ball joint. It took a long time, and a lot of beating (and just a little heating). Good luck!

 

[roboteq-1]

gettin off

Soak it with PB blaster or similar - let it set overnite, and use an impact gun with the proper size pickle fork. If not, sawzall the joint and take it to a machine shop and have em press it out, or...Heat n' Beat... And Repeat...

 

[BASS]

Thanks guys, I ended up just hammering it more with the hammer and it finally popped off...