Ball joint frustration

[GTStinger]

I've finally rolled up my sleeves and started rebuilding the front of my '83 300SD. I got the spring out without a hitch, but the balljoint is driving my crazy. No matter what I've done, I can't get the stud to pop out of the lower control arm.

So far I've tried:
Harbor freight two jaw puller. - Tightened until the thing broke.
Craftsman two jaw puller. - Tightened as much as I could with a 30 inch leverage bar on the ratchet
Big pickle fork between the knuckle and LCA.
Placed floor jack under LCA and loaded against the UCA/Sway Bar
All of these have been accompanied by a 2lb sledge on the LCA, liberal amounts of penetrating oil, and several minutes of a blowtorch on the LCA.

Any other ideas before I switch to explosives?

I am going to rumage through the boneyard at work to find a spacer for the pickle fork. The gap where the boot used to be is a little to wide for the fork. Other than that I'm out of ideas.

[leathermang]

Are you talking about the actual ball joint ?
If you do a search you will find a homemade jig which someone made and used with a big hydraulic press to get it out....

[psfred]

Yeah, they do get stuck, don't they!

I would install the puller that didn't work, tighten it up, then apply the pickle fork. You will have to dock the ends of the pickle fork, it will be too long and is simply running up agains the far side, not actually forcing the ball joint out. Big PITA. Make sure the flat side of the fork is agains the ball joint, it works much better that way.

the application of constant force plus the impact of the shortened fork should pop it out, I've never run into one that I could not remove.

Do not heat it, you are likely to distort the fitting so the new on will always be loose....

Peter

[Diesel Diane]

Load it down with a puller. Tight as you can get it. Then hit the LCA on opposite sides of the tapered hole with medium sized hammers. You want to hit it with both hammers at the same time. This will cause enough deformation of the tapered hole to break things loose. Your goal is to deliver sharp, ringing blows with the hammers. Alternatively, hold a large hammer against one side of the LCA, then deliver rapid blows with a smaller hammer. It might take a while, but this approach has never failed me.

[whunter]

Hello GTStinger
:EDIT:
Drat, I should have looked it up.
Danger: You must support the lower control arm with a jack to unload it.
Hit the control arm.
You want the impact on the front side tip of the control arm.
A two pound sledge is too small; a five to twenty pound will work.
Use a large blunt rod with the larger hammers.

Could you post a picture of the joint giving trouble?

[SD Blue]

Originally Posted by GTStinger

......... got the spring out without a hitch.....
Any other ideas before I switch to explosives?

I know the exact thing you are going through. Went through this last spring. And pulled 3 in one hour, the last one took 2 days! Now, I know why shops charge so much to do ball joints. I finally resorted to get a bigger hammer.(6#)

Maybe I am missing something, but since you have the spring out, why don't you pull the entire lower control arm and take it to a hydraulic press?

[rwthomas1]

Don't know if this will work but it did on a 300D..... Try placing a sturdy jackstand under the LCA as close to the balljoint as you can and let the weight of the car rest on it. Separate the upper balljoint and pull the top of the spindle/knuckle out towards you. With the spindle/knuckle out of the way you should now be looking at the exposed LBJ stud. A few good whacks with a 5lb mini-sledge should pop it out. RT

[whunter]

Originally Posted by rwthomas1

Don't know if this will work but it did on a 300D..... Try placing a sturdy jackstand under the LCA as close to the balljoint as you can and let the weight of the car rest on it. Separate the upper balljoint and pull the top of the spindle/knuckle out towards you. With the spindle/knuckle out of the way you should now be looking at the exposed LBJ stud. A few good whacks with a 5lb mini-sledge should pop it out. RT

This trick adds side thrust and/or torque to help break it loose.
Good tip.
A bigger hammer helps.

[Pete Burton]

These things can get so dirty and rusty that it may not be obvious to everyone that you strike the ball joint from the side opposite the stud. With that being said, once you've removed the spindle, you can put it on a bench over a piece of hardwood and put a big socket or short cylindrical pice of metal (I used aluminum) about 1-1/2" dia and beat it out with a hammer. Mine looked really rusty and nasty, but neither one took a minute, and I could have been MUCH harder on it if needed. If you are having so much trouble, take a step back and look at it again. If it's just the tapered ball stud shaft you're wrestling with, you just need to soak it in penetrant while you get the proper tie rod puller. I used one I made a long time ago, wasn't even hardened. BTW, you didn't need to remove the springs to replace the ball joints either. Rusty rents a real nice ball joint press for installing them for $35.

[GTStinger]

I pulled the springs because I'm replacing the LCA bushings as well most other pieces of 20 year old rubber under there.

If the cropped pickle fork and bigger hammer don't get the job done I will remove the LCA and get some penetrant on the underside of the stud / LCA connection.

[Pete Burton]

I really soaked mine with penetrant for days before I even tried. Maybe that's why they came off so easy.

TRY SOAKING IT IN " BLASTER" FOR A LITTLE BIT,IT'S IN A YELLOW CAN.

[Pete Burton]

Yeah, that's what I've been using recently. Best thing I've tried since Silikroil, maybe even better