I've paid a garage to remove a lower ball joint 2 years ago. This was the right front on my 83 300D which was squeaking. 2 guys wearing goggles, with the knuckle in a big vise, one guy held a brass hammer against the ball joint, the other swung a sledge hammer (in a chopping wood swing) on the brass hammer. It took a few blows and the ball joint popped out.

Since my left front has been squeaking for some time and it was wearing the tires unevenly I decided to replace the ball joint since I just put new tires on.

I always wanted to try this method which I had in my head for quite some time.


Since I do not have a big vise nor did I have a helper, I dug a hole in the ground with a pipe about 6 inches deep, placed a 3" square plate of steel 1/8" thick in the hole for support, wrapped the knuckle in old jeans cloth and buried it in the hole and tamped the earth around it to hold it upright and solidly supported by the earth. All tools used are in the pic.




I moved the socket out of the way to show progress. This is after about 4 strikes with the hammer, the ball joint moved a little bit.




After about 15 strikes with the hammer, the ball joint is out! This was really easy. It took less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Now I have to borrow the Autozone ball joint press to install the new Lemforder ball joint.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

How are you getting the new one in?

__________________
1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

BFH or press?

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I am gonna borrow the Autozone ball joint press tool and evaluate if I can make it work. If after inspection and I determine that it will not do a good job, I will try to come up with some red neck self made tools.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I also did it with the C-press what I found is I should have taken the time to put a flat Washer between the Joint and the Press because the Press does not want to stay positioned on the joint as easily.

The OD of the Washer that fits will have too small of an ID that will need to be enlarged.

When I removed my Old Ball Joints I could see marks were someone else had previously used a C-press to install them. You can see from the marks how the press did not want to stay in place due to the rounded edges.
If you put a Flat Washer over that area the Press has a flat surface to press on.

The Old Ball Joints appear to be Lemfoerders.

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

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 for the offer Brian! I may take you up on it if the Autozone C clamp press looks iffy.

How would your process work? Do you soak the ball joint in the liquid nitrogen to shrink it? How much will it shrink by? Will a press still be required?

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

If you guys do this could you make one of your videos funola?

I'd like to see it for myself but the airfare is a bit much at such short notice.

__________________
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!

It's well documented that the Autozone press is not what you want because it presses on the ball and not on the flange.


We put the joint in liquid nitrogen for about three minutes and then quickly set it into the spindle. The nitrogen will shrink it about .005". A press is not required.

I have a bit of a concern regarding the construction of the ball joint. Any plastic components will shrink by significantly more than the steel and there could be some problems that develop with that.

A safer alternative is to use dry ice. We get about .0025" of shrink and the press might still be needed, but the force required is significantly less.

What you got against rednecks?

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Nothing! Proud to be one.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Thought so. Just chekin.

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

You red neck too bro?

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Is there such a thing as an Urban Redneck?

I have a lot of different patterns of Camouflage Clothing, a bunch of Knives and Guns and my 2nd Vehicle is was a Pick-up Truck that I still have (43 years now); all got more used when I was younger.
I also don't throw away anything I can fix even if it looks poorly or needs to be fooled with to get it to work.

__________________
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) . . .

__________________
" 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