Can't remove ball joint, '89 Subaru GL Hatch

I presume that you have the knuckle off completely now? Otherwise I don't understand the 'press' comment, unless you managed to get a conventional on-car balljoint press mounted around all that shit in the way.

You may want to try using an air hammer with (literally) a hammer head shank attachment. Strike the cast iron around the pinch collar area with the air hammer while attempting whatever pressing it is you are doing. Also drench the area with penetrant beforehand.

Toyota MDT in MO

That is exactly the time you want to take that air hammer and put it right on the end of the bolt you are tightening to press out the stem (after you have heated up the bushing that the stem is in). if that doesn't work, you can try to get some MASS "behind" (opposite the air hammer) the bushing. I'm thinking an 8 lb (or as big as you can get) sledge hammer resting on the "back side" of the control arm. You may have to shorten the handle of the sledge. Handles are cheap. Having a helper hold the sledge or whatever weight you can fit in there would be really helpful. Another way you might be able to get some weight on that bushing is by having a helper stand a heavy bar on the back side of the control arm. Hopefully, with all that going on, you won't break your press.

As a last resort, you can cut that sucker off with a torch and do the stem removal on a bench vise with a sledge hammer.

BTW, this is mostly speculation as I haven't done what we're talking about here. I'm just using general mechanical common sense.

GOOD LUCK! BlackHawk

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Remove the brake line, sway bar, and detach the Lwr Cntrl. Arm from the frame......

then use a chisel to open the gap in the spindle.....

(i'm ass u me ing.....you have the "pinch bolt" type ball joint in the spindle...?? !! ??)

anywhooooo..........

IF....as you say..all those parts are in the way..... take'm the fk outta the way... me...i would'nt even hesitate if it was that big a pain in the arse.

Then.....you can flip that cntrl arm upside down and use a a bigarse 5 lb hammer to SLAM that stud out of the arm. (brace the arm on both sides of the balljoint...a vise works nicely)

:)

anywhoooooo..... that's what i'd do, if my $300 SnapOn air hammer didn't do the trick with the pickle fork adaptor.

after all......the book only gives .3 to bleed the brakes.... and .3 to change out the sway bar bushings.....so what's the big deal aye.

:)

~:~ marsh ~:~

See the pics in the like under Legacy and Impreza. That's what I used (Pitman arm remover...?)

Did the penetrating oil thing... :(

and

Here's a couple of photos of how I take them out (this is a 4X4 Chevy). jor [IMG]

Have you tried the trick with two hammers, where you hit the arm holding the ball joint on the left and right sides simultaneously, pretty hard, while the ball joint puller (pusher?) is applying pressure? Whack, whack, tighten the puller a bit, whack, whack, tighten some more, and eventually the ball joint comes out joint pops out, probably with a bang. This was the only thing that worked for me with stuck ball joints, and I've read of people doing this with the hammers alone.

Hachiroku ???? wrote: I can't

Yup, I would simply turn the steering wheel all the way to the side so the pry joint turns with the knuckle and becomes accessible and then pry it's ears open so the ball joint will fall out.

You need to cut the steering both ways on some vehicles so you can get a wrench on the parts, it is not unusual.

Mike

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This was my second thought, Sunday morning... :(

I hit the thing with a drift wedge so hard I thought I was going to knock the steering knuckle off the car...

I did try this and then stuck the 'pickle fork' under the BJ and tried prying it out...No Go...

I didn't try the hammer bit. There ain't a lot of room and the sway bar and the brake hose take up a lot of real estate under there...

[IMG] [IMG] Hmmm...can't get a clamp in there while it's on the car...

Looks like I'll have to take that side of the steering gear apart...

You are wise to be leery, Timothy... (Bonus points for the quote.)

You don't go for the Big (bleep)ing Hammer with sensitive stuff in the general area, because as sure as Murphy codified the Laws, the hammer head will bounce off what you are trying to hit and be magically attracted right to the stuff that shatters with a tap and costs tons to fix. Or worse, you only bruise the brake hose and don't notice it - and it only fails when you stab the brakes hard on the first real panic stop. Not a real comforting feeling when your foot sinks to the floor...

That's why they invented the Pickle Fork prybar and made the round end hammerable, you keep the hammer well out of the danger zone. That, or the air chisel, because it tends to stay where you put it.

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You do realize this joint 'falls out' in a 'downward' direction when the clamp ears are simply spread apart?

This means you have to pry or have the bolt out of the bottom part first.

I think maybe you are mixing up directions on that webpage...

Quote:

#5 Loosen and remove the castle nut.

#6 Separate the ball joint stud from the lower control arm using a suitable tool.

End Quote.

A 3' or 4' crow bar is a 'suitable tool' and would pop it out by prying down on the control arm and up on the knuckle. Pushing 'up' on the bolt will only mushroom the bolt so you now have to cut the bolt end off or it won't fit....

Then you cut the tires to the side to give swing clearance and hammer a screwdriver or cold chisel into the crack in the knuckle after the clamp bolt has been 'removed' completely and the sucker (ball joint) will fall out.

I have done one of those type and found it dead easy to do.