Hi, I have been trying to replace the ball joints on my 2006 MCS without success,
According to the article (Figure 2)

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm, it said:
"Remove the nut and use a puller to separate the ball joint from the control arm. Use caution and take your time here. The joint is a tapered fit and many times, the metal can fuse together."

Unfortunately the ball joint bolt fused extremely hard with the control arm in my case, I tried the following approaches:

1. Used a leased universal puller from Autozone, the opening was a little bigger, thus it slipped off.
2. Insert a pry bay and hit with a 20lb sledgehammer, the pry bar was all the way in, but the ball joint didn't move at all, no matter how hard I wiggled it. Worrying about breaking other parts I had to stop.

I figured the safer option is to use the "official tool" - outer ball joint removal tool (321190), as the curved edge would hold the control arm much better, somehow the local Mini service center didn't carry it, and I couldn't find online.
During my hunting for similar tools, I come across those options:
1. , it seemed to cover all kinds of puller, and the smaller one looks very similar to Mini's offical tool. It costs $96.66. However I'm not sure if the puller will work on my car.
2. SIR tools seemed to have similar tools, here:
http://www.sirtools.com/bmw_page_3.htm, with the following candidates:
BMW3029, BMW3030, 266H, the last one looks very similar to the official tool, but I'm not sure about the opening size of the Mini, is it 18mm, 21.5mm, or 25.5mm?
3. I turned to lean towards the tools in Amazon, as it has complete pullers for suspension job, only if the puller would be the right one to pull the damn ball joint off.
4. Or any other suggestions?

Thanks and have a nice day!

 

This is the kit I purchased from Amazon and used last year:

Danaher Tool Group KDS41690 Front End Service Kit by KD Tool.

 

Judging from the photo, KDS 41690 is exactly the same as OTC 6295, only about 10 bucks cheaper. I'm going to purchase that one.

Cheers!

 

Fantastic timing guys. I'm about to do the front end as well and I've been looking for similar kits (they all look the same). Ministrater, You mentioned you had it, how did you like it?

 

<p>&lt;p&gt;The kit worked really well. I was overall pretty happy I bought it. I think I had one little slip but backed it off, repositioned, and I was off and running. I did not have any major problems with stuck parts with just over 100k on the clock. Maybe I just got lucky. &lt;/p&gt;</p>

 

I came across this one before I found this thread. It costs less money ($60), but I don't know if it will work okay, or what the quality is like.

http://www.toolsmithonline.com/produ...rvice-Kit.html

 

I used my pneumatic air hammer with a chisel bit. Put the blade between the ball joint's flange and the carrier. Alternate blasting on either side and it'll pop right out.

 

Penetrating oil and punch/hammer on ears exposed on ball joint flange. Alternate sides and it will work down and out of knuckle.

Jeremy