Help removing 40 year old balljoints.

[yello620]

That hickory mallet MIGHT be good for three swings in the hands of anybody but a little girl..  Guarantee it would not last if I got to swing it at a ball joint.

[Dguy210]

I've had balljoints that will not come off with a BFH and a pickle fork.  This makes it very easy to pull even the most reluctant one off:

[Nicholas7620]

I've had balljoints that will not come off with a BFH and a pickle fork.  This makes it very easy to pull even the most reluctant one off:

 

 

That looks like something a scientist would use... :thumbup:   I've had success getting the biggest pickle fork I could find, hammer like hell,....then apply heat,  If I had to do it again I would try DGuy's puller, using pb blaster to loosen and soften corrosion and rust.

[]2eDeYe]

I figure, I never remove them unless I need to replace them.  Because by the time I've gotten some of them off, I HAVE to replace them. 

 

I suppose a situation could someday arise where I would need to remove a functional one for some reason, and hope to reuse it... haven't had that happen yet.

If they need to be removed to get at something else. The hammer technique saves the joint, threads and the boot.

 

Examples:

 

My truck requires pulling the center link to remove the oil pan. Brand new center link pan was leaky and had to do the timing chain.

 

I have also swapped front axle knuckles with used knuckles that had good joints to get disc brakes and to replace a broken knuckle, well the knuckle was fine, but the axle was friction welded to the spindle and swapping the knuckle was the easy fix. :lol:

[Dat Lurka]

That hickory mallet MIGHT be good for three swings in the hands of anybody but a little girl..  Guarantee it would not last if I got to swing it at a ball joint.

 

There's no breaking the one I have. I've been using it my entire life for everything from breaking concrete block to reforming sheet metal. 

[mantas]

Well i'm going to go at it again tonight if i get a chance. But as i have mentioned, puller didn't work, fork didn't work. I jumped up and down on the fork, hit the fork with a hammer. Puller just slips right off, I think i'll take it to a machine shop and pay $30 to save my time, can't be doing this all weeked hahahaha. And i have never ever encountered this problem before with balljoints.

[Dat Lurka]

Did you take the nut off?  :confused:

 

 

:rofl:

[ggzilla]

> I jumped up and down on the fork

 

That is improper use of the tool

 

 

> hit the fork with a hammer.

 

But which hammer? Was it a 16-oz hammer or a BiG Hammer (eg 12-pound sledge hammer or 16-pound sledge hammer)

 

It works if you hit the fork with a big enough hammer, and swing it moderately hard. And of course you need to remove the Nut and follow other advice (including safety advice) from the repair manual.

 

Fine, buy a $20 puller. Or pay $30 to a shop. Your choice.

[h190]

I used a puller like the one pictured above to pull my pitman arm off.   I used a good craftsman impact on the puller (bad idea)  The puller preloaded itself as I impacted on it for several minutes. I thought the puller would break.   I turned my head and kept impacting.   When the pitman arm finally let loose it sounded like a shotgun,  hit and chipped the concrete.  I used anti seize when I put it back on.   I then returned the mangled puller back to advance auto lolz.

[Draker]

Dude.. if you would have used a puller like the two pictured above.. this would have been off in under 5 minutes.

[ggzilla]

Oreilly's and Autozone rent those don't they?

 

[HRH]

Oh for Pete's sake.  As a wrecking yard vet, I can tell you no one pulling parts at a wrecking yard uses a pickle fork.  I only use them if I'm feeling lazy and don't care about the boot.  Here is the proper way to get a balljoint/tie rod off:

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/8846-how-to-replace-tie-rods-video/

[motavated]

I once had a situation where no matter what I did, that ball joint would not come out. Tools, heat, oils... I just started to hit it from the threaded side until it formed a mushroom top. Finally it poppedand came lose after three days of hammering! But now I had to grind the top off so I could install the new part.

[HRH]

Yeah, hitting from the top, the shockwave travels down, it doesn't loosen.  Hit from the side, that will loosen.  I've popped 70s Ford balljoints loose at Spaldings with only a hammer.  They WILL come loose.  Depends on how you hit it.  And don't use a dead blow.  Just use a sledge.  I'm uploading that video to youtube for ease of viewing.

 

[ggzilla]

Easy for you to say - I have loosened a few ball joints with the direct hammer method just like in your vid, but many I could not get loose that method. In your vid it looks like you dented the knuckle arm. And how do you avoid hitting the ball end just below the arm?

 

Oh... and I'm a four year wrecking yard vet and we all used pickle forks. Almost never broke or damaged a joint.

 

Now I'm thinking the Puller is the only foolproof way to go. The Pickle Fork always works, almost never damages the joint, but usually cuts the dust cover a little (not a lot).

[Dguy210]

Easy for you to say - I have loosened a few ball joints with the direct hammer method just like in your vid, but many I could not get loose that method. In your vid it looks like you dented the knuckle arm. And how do you avoid hitting the ball end just below the arm?

 

Oh... and I'm a four year wrecking yard vet and we all used pickle forks. Almost never broke or damaged a joint.

 

Now I'm thinking the Puller is the only foolproof way to go. The Pickle Fork always works, almost never damages the joint, but usually cuts the dust cover a little (not a lot).

 

I've had several balljoints, especially on my old Benz, that the side hammer method and then pickle fork just did not work to loosen them.  The puller did it in less than 5 minutes, best $20 I'd spent that day. My current method is to give it 1 good side whack then use the puller going nice and slow with a wrench while watching that the puller stays attached. No damage to anything and quick and easy.

[Draker]

All I do is get my ball joint separator that I posted a picture of.. attach wrench and done. I've spent hours bitching and hammering and swearing trying to get ball joints off. Honestly, pay for the tool and you will not regret it at all.

[HRH]

None of us ever used anything other than BFHs at Spaldings when I worked there.  Add a little heat if it's stubborn, but that shit will come out.  Hit it more times and harder. ;)  And yes, you do dent the knuckle, but it can't compress into the balljoint taper.  It's press fit.  So unless you're really into clean looking steering arms it doesn't matter.  In fact, it's the cheap way of pre-stressing the part, as in shot peening.   ;)  Or hammer peening.

 

Worst case, heat it with MAPP gas (propane is too low temp), put an ice cube on the stud sticking out.  Then whack it with a hammer.  It'll pop faster than a slut on prom night!

[mantas]

At last. Got the steering arm off and one of the ball joints. The other one just won't go. Used the fork and BFH took me sometime but it went. It was rusted in there really good, surprised it came off. Smashed my hand a few times with the hammer hopefully i didn't brake my hand. Going to go get a sledge hammer from my father's place. The 6' handle and a good 10lbs on the end should do the trick.....lol

[datzenmike]

Funny, i have never been able to get any joint loose hitting it there. Though many guys swear by that method.

 

With a large sledge with pickle ive taken off hundreds of ford, gm, chrysler, toyota, datsun, etc. never fail

 

On some cars you can loosen the nut but the weight of the car and spring is still on the b joint. A sudden smack and the hole deforms like a ball bouncing and the tension on it pops it off. The nut prevents it flying apart. To get my pitman arm off I pounded the fork in and heater the outside till it was smoking. A good smack with a 6lb and it was off.

[mantas]

Still cant get one of them off no matter what i do, its on the arm and out of the car but a bit drilling and cutting will work. Just stuck waiting on some parts so i have plenty of time to get this crap squared away. Anyone know why all of a sudden ratsun forums wont allow flicker picture links?

[ggzilla]

mantas, are you saying the ball-joint pull didn't work?

 

 

 

Flicker direct links don't work because of the Ratsun bug. See http://community.ratsun.net/topic/691-how-to-post-pictures-and-keep-online-photo-albums/?do=findComment&comment=817027 - scroll to the end to see the answer.

[mantas]

Nope it kept splitting at the ends. Didnt want to findout where it would go when it came off lol.

[mantas]

Im starting to suspect my friend hammered the bottom of the joints because i cut off the ends. Used a fork and they came out like butter. Going to stop by his house tomorrow so i backhand him.