Has anyone used a tool like this to sperate the upper front Ball joints? I did try it and I was at the point of thinking about a breaker bar on it but didnt want to damage the ball joints or break the tool. I am waiting to have another go at in when the weather gets cooler and have replacement ball joints. May as well do it all. My reason is that I am replaceing the worn out rubber bushing with poly.

 

I use those and if I think the tension is getting to the DAMAGE limit, I use a BFH and smack it until it dislodges the taper.
You can back up the other side of the impact with another BFH.(or an old body dolly)

Air hammers also work well.

 

That is similar to the factory tool but then again most are. If you are a JCNA member you could just loan the tool. Just an observation--the fingers look too fat to fit or at least much fatter than the factory tool which slips in the joint area. Good luck.

 

Mine came loose OK following motorcarman' process. Take care not to damage the rubber boot:- my splitter has the fork shaped to fit around it.

Note you don't strictly need to separate the control arm just to replace the upper bushings.

edit: sorry - I see you're replacing the BJs

 

As already mentioned, the fingers on the one pictured are much too fat to fit between control arm and upright on the Jag.
l use that style but slimmer, works very well but still amazing the scary tension that is sometimes required to break a simple taper.

 

Agree just changed my front bushings and no need to undo the ball joint you can swing the wishbone left or right as required and its not jumping about on the bench ( floor)

 

When I did the upper shock mounts I dound that my bushing are really tight in the A arm. It seems they just fall out for some but mine are really in there. If yours were tight how were you able to remove them without taking the A arm out?

 

An angle grinder to cut them on the face and a threaded rod with washers and a large socket to pull them out .

 

This thread reminds me of a battle with that ball joint on 1 side. As pictured & discussed in this link: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ghlight=Pickle

I learned that all pickle forks are not created equal. Photos in link. In a nutshell I tried the device you pictured first, no joy, it broke. I then spent what felt like hours hammering with an autozone rented pickle fork - nothing. In frustration I visited my mechanic and complained. He just smiled and handed me a Snap-On brand pickle fork. World of difference it worked fast!

I have an air hammer now, but the attached post may help you.

John

 

The ball joint separator sold at Harbor Freight (#99849) and other parts stores worked fine for me when replacing the upper arm bushings. It is a quality forged, "made in Taiwan" tool with the proper thin fingers that fit easily under the ball joint without damage, and it poses much less of a threat to the joint seal than a fork. I have used it twice to replace the arm bushings, both times without undue strain. I should qualify this by saying my car is California rust-free and easier to work on than many that live through winters. Be sure to wear eyewear and gloves, etc., if you go this route, as the joint "explodes" out of the socket when it comes loose, spreading a lot of debris.

 

I actually have the same tool from Harbor Freight. Just used a image off the web. My car is a Florida car so corrosion also for me not a issue. Guess I will just need to apply a little more pressure. And a little soaking with some penetrating oil.

 

Hey Pb,
I'm replacing my shocks and control arm bushings. I would rather not split the ball joint but i'm not sure how you would press the new bushings into the arm in the confined space. How did you press yours in?
Thanks!.

 

When you have the long bolt out you can swing the top arm about and get it to a convenient place to work on it . Use a length of threaded rod and some washers / sockets to push out the bushes if they dont fall out.
Stick the washers onto the bushes with contact adhesive or you will have a battle on your hands to align it all up .
Easy job 24mm socket+spanner + impact gun + knuckle.

 

This all started when I replaced my upper shock mounts. At that time I got into a time bind and didnt do the bushings or ball joints. I recall how loose the A arm was so the ball joints need replacing. I should of finished the job completely the first time. I appreciate the tip on removing the bushings and that will likely come in handy. As far as pressing out the ball joints and putting in the new ones still thinking that one over. As a option there is a good indy shop in town I can farm it out to. Hate to damage a part with brute force.

 

You can replace the upper arm BJ without too much drama using a normal press or large C-clamp & suitable adaptors.

The lower one is a bear due to the taper on the arm. See this thread from szhilian39, which also links to a couple of others:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...7/#post2481415

 

I replaced the front shock mounts, shocks, ball joints, and bushings. I did most of the work myself but I took the control arms and strut assemblies to a shop to get the ball joints replaced, and shock and shock mounts replaced. Those seemed like a little more than I wanted to wrestle with. I wasn't sure that I had the proper tools and it looked like I could get hurt if something let loose so I farmed this out to someone with better tools and who was comfortable using them.
The owner of the shop told me that he did the ball joints himself because of the small amount of control arm material around the ball joints.
I'm very glad that I handled this the way I did and I would do it again.

 

I have one of those from Harbor Freight. Kind of discovered this accidentally out of frustration and just walking away after heating, hammering and cursing didn't budge one. What I've done a few times now is just crank up the tension on a ball joint till I feel its about to reach the tool's limit and then I'd just leave it for a few hours or even overnight. Then I'd come out the next morning and if it hadn't popped loose on its own, then all it took is another eighth of a turn. Same method seems to work for removing tapered pulleys (tho with a different tool obviously). Don't really understand why that's worked but it has. If you got the time, worth a try anyway and probably less likely to hurt anything, least of all yourself, than trying to heat, hammer or curse it loose.

 

You wouldn't believe how many times a day's walk-off has meant success on MANY problems like this. If you're pushed for time, maybe not ideal!

 

Absolutely. I've had this happen too. Some times it only takes a couple minutes of freeing my mind, some times it takes longer. There must be science to it but that's above my pay grade.
I think the length of time required is inversely proportional to the amount of time you actually have.