I took my ws6 springs out. I want to put new ball joints and controol arm bushings in. is there a trick to the ball joints? I rented a ball joint seperator from autozone, but the dang things dont want to come off the spindle... am i doing something wrong?

 

grap a bfh and give it a whack

 

If you are using a pickle fork, hit it harder and it will pop off eventually. Just keep driving the fork in, this has a tendancy to damage the boots, however. That's not a big deal when replacing the ball joints (need to replace the boots anyway). If the separator you are using looks like a mini press (the tool recommended in the GM service manual) just tighten it till it pops.

I'm not a fan of the BFH on the threaded end, but it works and won't damage the boot. I prefer gradual pressure (from the press looking separator).

 

guess i need a bigger FH... thanks for your help...

 

I've been using a pitman arm puller when doing front end work, and I can't be happier. I just keep tightening until it pops apart. It doesn't even take much effort to do it. Just make sure you have that spring contained somehow.

 

here's my little how to on ball joints

http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/balljointreplacement.html

 

I think some of you guys are talking about tie rod ends, not balljoints??

I remember the first time I had to pop a spindle off a balljoint; yes I used the balljoints separator fork and a hammer- but it took forever. The spindle didn't want to pop free. I kept removing the fork & re-inserting it, over and over again. Finally I had enough; I just kept pounding and pounding on the pickle fork- and finally it popped free. I remember thinking that I had buried the fork all the way, but I didn't care, so I just kept hitting the fork out of anger (laughs), and apparently that was all it needed.

 

another couple of hints on ball joints, in case you need to save the ball joint boot. first and foremost, take the nut off the spindle, while supporting the a-frame with a jack. once you've taken it completely off, and its easy to turn by hand, place it back on so that the top of the nut is flush with the threaded end, this part is very important. Remove the jack from under the a-frame(just let it down some), so the spring is now pushing down on the aframe, trying to seperate it.

then you can either whack the nut, and not damage the threads, or even better, just whack the spindle where the ball joint sits, on the side, and with a few good whacks, the joint will free, and stop once the nut hits the spindle, and you get a nice loud thud. seriously, whacking the side of the spindle works great, and does no damage to anything. then jack up the a-frame, and unscrew the nut, and then lower the a frame down slowly, but keep tension on the jack. with these cars, there is no shock to retain the spring, and it could potentially still jump out if you lower the jack all the way. I usually throw a chain around the spring and a-frame, if i need to use the jack for something else, or when I'm changing springs.

this also works with tie rod ends, on the drag link or spindle.