I've been trying for probably the last 10 hours to get the Inner ball joint on the passenger side to separate from the control arm. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of two or three times each.

I have a Ball Joint Separator (pickle fork) and a ball joint press. Plus any other normal tools you might find in a shop. Please how did you get yours off? I need this done before 10 AM tomorrow. I'm changing the bushings for the lower control arms

 

I recently went through the same issue. I tried heat & hammer, and a ball joint separator and anything else that looked like it would help. Several hours later I found a medium sized gear puller that would just grab the edges of the control arm. I tightened it down and then pounded the pulling screw with a small sledge hammer. That did the trick.

Hope that helps

 

Anyone?

 

Did you put the arms through the holes to grab the arm or did they go on the outside of the arm?

 

My puller was large enough to grab the outside. I still had to hammer the hell out of it before it popped.

 

Word of caution....make certain you have the carrier bolts torqued to spec when installing the new ball joints. If they are the slightest bit lose, the car will feel like it has torque steer on the interstate when you let off the throttle.

 

I'm changing the bushings not the joints so that shouldn't be too much of an issue, dang all the video's and how to's just brush by the control arm removal this is the hardest part!

 

I did my control arm bushings last year by dropping the sub-frame. Even with the use of a car lift it was a chore. I decided to replace my inner ball joints recently when I replaced my struts and mounts and the inner grease boots on the CV's. It seemed like a good idea at the time to replace the inner ball joints while I had better access to them.

I've gotta run so good luck to you.

 

I'm trying to pull the control arm down and pushing up on the ball joint stud with the puller but can't get a good grip with any of the claws to anchor on. I've been doing this since saturday anyone have any other ideas?!

 

You may help the situation by spraying KROIL or PB Blaster on it but, "When all else fails, use force"...namely a good old "pickle fork" and a 2 lb. sledge hammer!

 

works every time: I have a 4 ft prybar I use. first, put the lower outer balljoint back in its place in the knuckle. then wedge the prybar between the apex of the control arm near the inner ball joint hole and pry like you've never pried before! This will be exponentially easier with a longer prybar and the car on a hoist. Even with a 4 foot prybar, it can take a fair amount of force to remove it. If you are unable to do it with a smaller prybar then you'll need a puller that you can modify to grip the sides of the control arm, which I've also successfully done. Worst case scenario if youre planning on replacing the ball joint anyway, you can use an air hammer to help free it while your buddy pries on it. good luck!

 

Same problem here. On the driver side the ball joint was seized into the hub assembly, got that one out with the chisel method. But the passenger side... Well let's just say 6 hours later and no progress. The ball joint is seized into the control arm.

I've hammered, pried, made a pickle fork, heat it up and beat it up, had a buddy hammer and I pry. I even cried a little. Nothin.

I've thought about drilling it out -- Any thoughts on this.

Btw, I figured I'd resurerect this thread because it's a first hit on Google and no solution has been explained. Thanks NAM!

 

 

I used the backside of a 10+ lb. wood spitting maul on the pickle fork! Still nothing. And yep, first thing I did was spray it down with PB Blaster and let it soak... This is one helluva challenge.

Worse than a supercharger service...

 

 

I tried with two pickle forks, didn't budge. Since I was replacing my LCA bushings anyway, so I just removed the whole control arm , put it in a vise and pounded the ball joint out.

 

If you are going to spray something on it try CRC Freeze Off. I removed an entire original exhaust system off a 88 MR2 SC. The bolts squealed but came out. I found PB blaster was just good at smelling bad

 

I've been beating the s$%t out of it. Especially with the backside of the splitting maul, it's got at least a 5 ft. handle.

I guess when I get off work I'll go beat it up some more! Maybe pick up some of that spray mentioned above.

 

[quote=twintert;3710462]I've been trying for probably the last 10 hours to get the Inner ball joint on the passenger side to separate from the control arm. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of two or three times each.

 

As I stated , been there, tried that. Sometimes spending too much time trying the same thing over and over becomes a waste of time. You're banging the crap out of those ball joints, which will not be any good after all is said and done. You state that you are replacing the LCA bushings.
I don't know what method you are using to remove the bushing, but I will tell you what I did:
1)Unplug the PS pump,remove the bolts holding the PS tank and lower the subframe, do not remove, just lower it.
2)Get a good ratchet box wrench to remove the ball joint from the frame, 2 bolts, you will need to maneuver the axles to get to the bolts and lowering the subframe gives you more room. Once I had the whole control arm out, I was easily able to bang out the ball joints and replace them.
3)Remove the outer ball joint and, then pry the whole control arm out of the LCA hosing.
This is a very simplistic overview but this is how I changed my LCA bushings. I don't know what method you plan on using to take the bushing out, I purchased a tool from Amazon for $39 which seems to no longer be available ( There are several ways to tackle that task. After spending several hours trying to take off one inner ball joint, it was time to take another approach. Hope you find some information here useful. May the Force be with you....

 

LCAs weren't a problem. Those were easy breezy. I'm replacing my outer ball joints. I've never encountered anything so seized up as this, that's why I revived the thread as there was no concurrent resolution.

 

 

ANNND it is DONE!

I managed to get my hands on a 3.5 ft pickle fork! A little snack and pry is all it took. Only about 5 mins. I guess letting it soak for 24+ hours helped a ton.

Basically heat, anti-seize, BFH, and big friggin pickle fork is your best friend with this job!

 

 

It's all done! Thank God that mess is over with.

Tips above. ^^^