rm 1/2 sjaft in 93 civic

use the proper tool, its not a pickle fork, and you won't damage the boot. If you don't have access to the proper ball joint remover, then just make sure to use a little grease on the fork to allow the fork to slide on the boot properly. There is still the possibility that you could split it.

Once the ball joint is off and the hub nut removed, the shaft should slide out of the splines in the brake disc. If not, wail on it with a rubber mallet for a bit.

Then, use a persuader bar to pop the snap ring in the trannie, and the shaft should pop out.

If you haven't drained the trannie by now, the fluid will be all over you.... :)

t

peter wrote:

Remove the axle nuts first, then pop the ball joints. You may also need to remove the Y shaped yoke at the bottom of the strut. In my experience, this tool by Stahlwille

is the ideal tool fordealing with ball joints. It will not damage the boots. However, you willneed to protect the ball joint stud since it has holes drilled through itfor the cotter keys and sometimes these may collapse when using this presstool. The simple way to protect the stud is to thread a regular nut (notthe castle nut) onto the ball joint stud so that the nut is flush with theend of the stud. The tool is a bit on the pricey side but you may be ableto rent one (or something similar) from a tool rental outlet. If you use apickle fork, the boots may split even if you grease the tool. Be preparedto replace any boots that split open during the separation of the balljoints. Damaged boots will lead to premature failure of the joints. Lastly, do the owner a favor and use a good antiseize compound on all of thesuspension bolts you remove before reassembly. Eric