lower ball joints STUCK

[bluecab]

Finally back in the garage for a bit. Got one side all apart except the lower ball joint will just not come out: hammered it with a pickle fork, tried a regular ball joint separator, PB blaster, heat, and a jack under the ball joint stud.
Before I break out the grinder and the sledge, has anybody had this problem?

Thanks

[taddpole]

I just did mine and it was not easy. I bought a ball joint tool from harbor freight. I started to strip it because I had tightened it so much. Once I got it that tight I started hitting it as hard as I could with a hammer. It eventually came lose after a good hour or so. I don't know if that was the best way but it worked for me. Good luck

[xgecko]

Have you tried a pneumatic fork? I find that they break any stuck joint eventually although adding some heat often helps.

Basically it is a pneumatic impact hammer typically used for concrete with a fork tool installed:



http://www.harborfreight.com/medium-barrel-air-hammer-with-chisel-69866.html

Fork:


http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-5-pc-pickle-fork-kit/p-00930308000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

[pr129tbird]

Here's the best way to do this...... WOrks like a charm. With the suspension jacked up, wheel removed etc... take the cotter pin out of the ball joint. Loosen the nut about 4-5 turns. DO NOT support the lower arm as the torsion bars tension will help the joint come loose as its a big spring. Now put the ball joint spreader in the joint and give a few good taps with a heavy hammer. You will hear a big BANG and the joint will separate and the nut you loosened will be all that is keeping the arm from swinging down. You must now place the jack under the lower arm and jack up the arm to relieve the torsion bars tension. Once you do so you will now be able to completely loosen and remove the nut on the ball joint stud. Hope this helps! I do it all the time and works like a charm! WHY? If you have the lower arm jack up your relieving the tension on the suspension so the only force that can apply to separate the joint is whatever you are able to exhert on it with your spreader and hammer. But if you jack the car up from the frame the suspension will be under load (tension from the torsion bar) and this force will naturally want to separate the joint and thus adds a LOT of force to the equation! Been there done that! I too have struggled with this type of problem on other vehicles!

[xgecko]

Combine the above comment with my suggestion of using the pneumatic hammer and it will almost certainly pop apart. It might even go with just a few hammer taps as he suggests.

[Twilight Fenrir]

Yeah, they were stuck on mine too... I used a balljoint separator, tightened as much as I could, then wailed on it with a mini-sledge... They both came off, but took some doin Great for getting out any pent up rage XD

[waterzap]

Where did you get the balljoints? Rock auto does not have them. For my 67

[Twilight Fenrir]

I got mine in a front suspension rebuild kit from Kanter:

http://www.kanter.com/catalog/content/O ... 86581.html

Down at the bottom there is the 66-72 Toro kit. Rebuilt my whole front end with that kit last winter, been holding up great so far...

[xgecko]

I concur. I got the Kanter kit and it is by far and away the best deal.

[bluecab]

I finally got the ball joint out of the lower A arm by sawzalling the spindle off, removing the old spindle / hub and drilling out the side and top rivets and then using a die grinder to remove the rest of the rivet heads on the inside of the arm.
The taper is still in the spindle. it may be there forever, but I'm putting disk brake spindles on so it does not matter.
This was after soaking it with PB blaster and heating with a torch occasionally since May, using a pickle fork with a hand sledge as well as a ball joint separator ( have been spending most of my garage time learning to weld by patching the floor pan)
I have loosened lots of stuck stuff in my time, but this was pretty far beyond what I have seen...

David