man, i can relate about the ball joints not wanting to come out. On my 300SD, i rented the tool from an autozone to remove them, and regardless how much pounding i did, they would not break free. I ended up wedging the tool in as far as it would go, then getting a ten foot breaker bar that fit over the end of the tool, and put all my weight on the very end of the breaker bar. They finally popped free after a little bit of bouncing(i can't take credit for this idea, another fine member on this forum suggested this
) When they finally popped out it sounded like a gunshot! scared me both times! I paid a shop thirty dollars for both sides to press the new ones in.
Ryan