Well I got the front passenger side done (bearing replacement). Those 3 ball joints popped right off with my new scissor like separator.

Started on the other side. Bit of a headache on the 17mm caliper bracket bolts, but time and plenty of PBBlaster and they came right off.

Popped the tie rod ball joint right off (way better than that old pickle fork I thought to myself) and moved to the upper ball joint - NOTHING! I spent hours on it, even tried heat with propane and the good old pickle fork that separated it last year. It won't budge.

I guess I realize that a pro could get it off, but I'm he'll bent on doing as much of the job as I can. Here's my question:

If I were to hire a mechanic to separate the upper and lower ball joints, put it back together, and let me drive home - can I then count on being able to separate the ball joints myself with normal tools later that day in my driveway?

Seems logical to me but I wanted to check before proceeding. Thanks for looking.

BTW, if there's some special science to placing the scissor like ball joint splitter, let me know. It worked perfectly the 1st 4 times. Yesterday I had the screw entirely extended on the upper ball joint, no movement. Where was all that force going? The solid tongue was under the protruding bolt, the fork was on the vertical plate, couldn't see it touching the ball joint so it wasnt fighting itself, nothing. It wouldnt budge.

Thanks I'm going to figure this out. Appreciate your help,

John

 

Is this the tool you're using? It worked for me on several cars, one of the loaner tools at Autozone.

OEM Ball joint separator 27308 - Read Reviews on OEM #27308

 

Yes Ron, that is exactly what I use. The bloody thing was 100% torqued to the end of that bolt and nothing. Of course I was using a compressor and impact wrench.

While this tool seems much better than a pickle fork, I did use the fork to separate the upper ball joint last year. Wonder if I should say rubber boot be slammed and spend an hour or so hammering that to try to release it. Ah I'm grasping at straws aren't I.

John

John

 

cut through the section behind the rubber boot with a slitting disc then press it out. You have to replace the joint of course but thats the price you have to pay sometimes

 

Never had luck with a pickel fork or BJS tool but a couple wacks with a BFH onto the arm where the bj is and it should pop right out. If not you aren't hitting hard enough

 

Trevor, When I whack it with a big fing hammer, is it best to have the ball joint under tension? IOW, use the BJS tool RJ was kind enough to post, crank it down putting pressure on the ball joint, then whack it?

I've seen folks do it on the web, but I can't imagine how banging the side of the vertical plate (thats the plate the ball joints and the spindle mount in for those who dont recognize it) would release a ball joint. Just doesn't seem to be under pressure beyond the friction by insertion. Hey I'd love to get smarter, let me know if I'm missing something, and if you agree it should be under pressure to release it with a whack (TTYT, no one on the web who does it has it under pressure).

John

 

I'm feeling your frustration Johnken, as I remember my uppers were a pita to remove. I used the same tool as RJ237 suggested, and a BFH (5lb sledge hammer), the release tool was tightened above and beyond what I thought were it's capabilities, it took several HARD whacks with the hammer while the ball joint was under pressure until the ball joint finally released, just remember, with the tool under that kind of pressure, it could easily be sent flying! Best to you, Cheers

BK

 

Wow great info thanks. Update: I visited 2 local friendly mechanics. I held little hope of fixing it myself, so I posed the question: could I hire you to separate the ball joints, put it back together and I'll drive home to look forward to performing an easy separation so I could continue the job myself?

The response was unanimous. "Umm, no." (Meaning no guarantee the separation would be any easier after they put back together)

Otoh, they both rolled their eye at the thought of using the ball joint separator that I was using! (See RJ237's link above) It's a POS compared to the good old pickle fork BJS and a hammer!

Sounds like i was just lucky the other day to find the 4 ball joints separating so easily with that tool!

I'm going to go back to the fork like tool I used on this ball joint last year as per both their recommendation. I've got to find a nice heavy hammer and get into it.

Look for an update tomorrow morning. Hopefully it'll be nothing but your basic: You Live and Learn type positive feedback. Stand by.

John

 

One method suggested to me years ago was to use 2 x BFH - one on each side of where the ball joint taper locates (see attached) with some pressure assistance from a tool similar to the one RJ linked to.

Works well only if you can get at both sides, mind.

Mike

 

I guarantee you that it will be easy for you to separate if some one else manages and then puts it back together.

When you have a really stuck ball joint and everyone else offers the same old suggestions it can be really frustrating. Get one of these other mechanics to have a try, they may have a hydraulic ball joint separator which should do the job.

 

Thanks Race,

Should of but nah I followed thier advice. Spent 4 hours hammering my pickle fork, nothing.

I spoke to one of the mechanics while I had my fork in hand. He looked, then pulled his out - big difference in the slope of the tines! He lent me his snap on brand fork, and assured me this would work. It is a touch wider between the forks.

I went home and got to work. Sure enough it made a difference. I could feel it. Counted 60 whacks with a 12 pound sledge and pop - she was off!

Or so I thought. Next look showed the threaded end still there, but the upper control arm moves, WTH? I wondered and took a closer look. I had managed to destroy the entire ball joint! The ball, the tappered end, and the thread were stuck in the vertical plate. The rubber cover and the rest was up in the upper control arm. The entire ball joint broke in half.

You gotta laugh, something good will come of this for sure. Oh yeah as I planned how to remove the suck piece, I decided to try to pop the lower ball joint. That way I could have the assembly free to work on. Well the sicssor ball joint remover worked on the other side here - let me try it. SNAP - it broke. What can you do. I just can't wait to unbold the upper control arm, 40 minutes is my best time for that so far. . .

I got another sicssor tool since there is no room to insert any of the forks without taking off the dust plate. As you all know those 3 torx screws are like welded in. Bob told us to use heat on them.

More later. I've got a good tip on leverage for the 17mm brake bracket bolts, and photos of the snap on brand fork vs the autozone fork. Big differnce, you'll be interested.

Later,

John

 

Southern cars are worth their weight in blood and missing skin.

Getting the uprights off the balljoints is the EASY part. Getting the balljoints out of the arms is when the fun really begins.

All of the car shows use the dual hammer trick and it always works the first time. That has never worked for me ever.

 

Ungn, thanks for the confirmation. I can't tell you how many utube I watched that showed ball joints popping out with a whack of the hammer.

My car just laughed at that! Reminds me of the video on utube of the guy who shows you how easy it is to remove the ABS ring with a 2 inch 12point socket. Then the hammer the hub out by placing the ball of a ball peen hammer on the hub and strike it with a sledge hammer. Only someone who hasn't done either of these jobs (and that was me 2 weeks ago) would even consider falling for the B.S..

Good news, my upper control arm came out fast, one new upper ball joint, new bearing installed an she was back on the road driving perfectly!

I have to admit the intensity of this job surprised me. It would have been a different world if I did not encounter all the frozen screws ball joints and bolts.

I have the parts to replace all the bushes on lower control arms. Decided to pause that job and just do the bearings. Once I buy an air hammer I'll take the lower control arms on.

The good news is I can now provide feedback on new bearings replacing ones that had no play at all, just a bit of vibration in the wheel. I look forward to being able to provide feedback on the improvements with the new bushes in the near future.

There is a world of difference with new front bearings. There is nothing but a smooth quiet feeling in the steering now. Got to cruise at 90mph yesterday- flawless. Glad i finally did it.

I couldn't have gotten through this without RJ237's kindness and patience to lend me the tool or without each of your wise comments and assistance, we certainly covered a lot of topics.

THANK YOU:

RJ237
RaceDiagnostics
Ungn
MichaelH
Motorman
RobRoy
Phanc6084
TrevorTASmin
Hdparts00xkr
GGG
Norri
Jeremys
Joesoap


John