It all depends on how much rust is in there. I did use a wire brush and a pick to clean out the crevices and also usrd penetrating oil to help it out.

No need to save the threads since the ball joint was bad.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I will update my post but I forgot to mention that I did put a steel plate for suppport (approx thick 3" square 1/8 thick) in the hole first. That worked just fine and the knuckle did not get driven down into the earth. In sand, use a plate with more surface area.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

In My Case I was observing what is there after I removed them. The marks did not get there from removal.

I was removing the Ball joints because I was trying to make an Adapter that would work with the C-Press.

What I ended up with turned out to already have been done by Dormison along time ago; and, you still needed to remove the Boot.

Also all of the replacement Ball Joints are not the same. In that thread a below I measured the OD of Lemfoerder and URO Joints. The URO has an OD that is going to be harder to press in.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/275392-ball-joints-differances-tolerances-123-a.html

It is also clear from the Threads that People experience different amounts of difficulty both in the removal and the installation of the Lower Ball Joints.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Sounds like you qualify. If there's no such thing yet, you can even be president of the URIn (Urban Rednecks Intl) . . .

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I was taking a closer look at funola's pic and looking at the knocked out Ball Joint.
Does it look like the area of that particular Ball Joint is shorter than some of the others?

Or is it an optical delusion.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I'll measure old and new and let you know. Do you have the p/n of the Autozone press handy so I can call first before going?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Found it! Autozone ball joint press press #27023

OEM/Ball joint/U-Joint press set (27023) | | AutoZone.com

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Actually my first attempt (2 years ago, before bringing it to the shop) was by propping it up in a corner and striking with a hammer and socket (probably the same hammer and socket). It didn't budge no matter how hard I hit it. Maybe that ball joint was more rusted. But I think it was due more to loss of energy because the knuckle was not properly supported (too much springyness).

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I have a Harbor Freight C-press (got it on sale) and a PitBull C-press (eBay) and when I was looking at them I also got one from Autozone (I never did know what the Number was) to compare them.

All of the Presses had similar dimensions and the parts interchanged.
The C Frame of the Harbor Freight one did not seem to have as good of Steel as the other 2 and the casting of the Plates was cruder.

I could not use the Autozoneone because someone had buggerd up the opening.

On all of them the area where the Threaded Rod goes is rather sloppy. That does not help with lining things up.

I have noticed since I bought mine several years ago the Price has gone up considerably.

The OEM Tools I have seen and used from Autozone (Made in Taiwan) seem to be of a better quality then the China (PRC) ones.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

You can call it red-neck if you like, but I appreciate the ingenuity and creativity. I'd have wrapped the knuckle end in a plastic bag before burying it so I wouldn't have the extra cleaning (a nod to my laziness) but that was a good idea.
Kudos.

I pounded old one out which was not hard at all + with the use of a vise + small peice of 2" pipe pounded the new one in which was harder then removing old one and should have removed boot before installing because tore the boot a little on installation still should last for yrs.

We had a minor earth tremor near here yesterday. Do you think it may have been funola with his ball joint ?

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Yep I reckon so. If in doubt blame funola!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I would be willing to assist you with this project if you wish to use liquid nitrogen. I use it fairly frequently at the shop and I believe that it would make fast work of this task without the risk of damaging the joint by using the Autozone press (presses on the ball).

Let me know if you want to bring it to New Britain.

Thanks! I did write:

"wrapped the knuckle in old jeans cloth and buried it in the hole"

I considered using plastic bags but chose old jeans instead since it is tougher against sand and rocks on the upper ball joint taper. The jeans worked fine.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked