yep, its saturday evening and thats what im doing

the one i got from the wrecker came off with 2 hits of the hammer.

the one on my car.......not so much. cant get the thing off. the balljonits are new so i dont want to wreck them.

im going to have a beer and try again. then repeat.

 

Go to an auto parts store and rent a ball joint separator. NOT A PICKLE FORK TYPE THING! The pickle fork has a tendency to ruin the ball joint's boot, which allows dirt and crap in the socket to burn it up. Best of all, if you rent the thing, you get your money back when you bring it back since you will only be using it once (hopefully).

 

kinda unrelated but its somewhat related. I was doing an axle on a stupid civic *ya I know * and the balljoint was being wierd. When putting the bolt back in the bottom, the bolt stud comming out of it kept spinning and we couldnt torque the Nut Down. It eventually did.... but that doesn't seem right, is it? Seemed like a bad balljoint to me :shrug:

 

That spinning balljoint stud happened to one of the guys here (V6 forum), actually. Luckily it didn't happen for me!

I never tore a boot when I used the fork; I was always careful to slide the "flatter" end of the fork against the boot- but it could definately happen quickly! So be careful!

That's like my driver's side knuckle, when I was rebuilding my suspension. That knuckle didn't wanna pop free. After ramming the fork all the way home and just relentlessly beating on the fork (I was tired and pissed off), it popped free.

 

Don't know if you have ever heard of this technique: it sounds a little destructive, but works well. I have never damaged anything doing it.

With a floor jack raised about an inch or two below the balljoint, loosen but don't quite remove the castle nut. Smack it once or twice with a 3lb hammer, and it should break free. You can use an old castle nut if you're worried about damage, but you shouldn't have to hit it more than a time or two. Remove nut, and carefully lower the jack. No torn boots, no damage. The spring does all the work.

 

for the castle nut method, you mean with the wheel still on?

i may attempt to do that again this weekend depending on if the warden is around.

 

No, with it off...it'll be in the way anyway.

 

you mean smack the castle nut?

i was whoppin on it from every which angle, and hitting everywhere with the hammer.


picture this though, i take off the tierod, and loosen the castle nut a whole bunch. i put a floorjack under the spindle, and slowly lower the car so that some of the weight is on the wheel. hopefully the weight of the car will force the steering knuckle away from the balljoint right?



and if yes, then how do i get the new steering knuckle on? will the threads poke through enough that i can just keep tighting the castle nut and it will go together?

 

Yes, just hit the top of the castle nut a few times, with the jack a couple inches below the a-arm. Once it breaks loose, you'll have to jack the a-arm up slightly to get the nut off. When putiing it back on, rest the spindle (knuckle) on the tip of the balljoint and start jacking it up. You may have to move the spindle around a little to get it to seat properly. Just continue jacking it up until the threads are sticking out sufficiently, and put the nut on. Tighten it with the a-arm jacked up to the spindle flush, put the cotter pin in and you are finished.

 

NEW BALL JOINT BOOTS COST MEASLY $4 EACH!
Get BOTH sizes you find.
When/if ya destroy the old boot, it don't matter.
AND IF ya don't use the ball joint boots, return them!
I used synthetic grease for refill of the ball joints, too.
I read these are new parts that are being removed?

 

The cool thing about this method is that the boots aren't damaged, but something I have started doing is using the poly tie rod and balljoint boots from Energy Suspension. They are far more durable than the stock type, and less prone to damage.

 

I agree 1,000,000%
But if ya may goof & ya already at the parts store, it's small change to just have them on hand.
One can always return unopened parts, real easy.
I tried to find the poly boots, locally.
$4 investment does the job out in LA,CA non-harsh environment. Way better than nothing if ya make a mistake & ruin an old tie rod boot.

 

its a civic ball joint thing. My buddies did the same thing when we tried to put his back on, I don't know how he ended up getting it back on but normally impact hammer/air ratchet seem to be the way as the impact hammer turns ti from a straight on point with force, where as using a ratchet or wrench we are turning ot off to the side, applying a turning pressure to the bolt which is going to turn the balljoint, if that make sense.

 

I actually had that happen once on a thirdgen balljoint...Redraif's originals, I think. The impact took care of it!

 

i need the steering knuckle fixed on my car to pass inspection the shop told me $160 to get it fixed.

 

Do it yourself...its easy. You could even buy all the tools needed and the part, too, for less than $160.

 

back to the castle nut getting hit with a hammer, don't hit it with a metal hammer. get yourself a rubber dead blow hammer, things come off really easily with them and you don't have to worry about messing anything up cause you are hitting it with rubber, and not metal. deadblows work on a double hit principal and they are about 3 more times more effective than a regular hammer. my toolbox has one of aobut 16oz and really when trying to knock something loose i don't have to hit it more than about 5 times before it comes off. if it don't come off by the, there is something wrong and i get out the penetrant and soak it for a couple of hours and try again. just something we deal with at work all the time that may help with the problem for others.
you can get a good dead blow hammer for about 20$ from any home depot or lowes or equivalent.