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Ball joint is stuck

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Dr Cedric

New member
Last night (for about 5 hours) I was stuck trying to get my front Driver ball joint to pop loose from the knuckle (I'm trying to change a bad axle, way too much car shaking around!)

I'm totally flummoxed, I tried hitting with hammers, jumping (literally) on prybars, smashing the living Schtick out of a pickle fork and all to no avail. The silly ball joint separator tool I borrowed from Autozone was too short to fit into the space behind the knuckle and wouldn't sit on the stud.

If the stud is seized into the knuckle what do I do to get it out that I haven't already tried? Is there a better tool? If I just changed the control arms (they are 15 years old...) would that give me more room at the knuckle end? Do I need a bigger hammer?

Man, these past 2 months have had way too many repairs :(

Sincerely,

Still covered in grease and tired of repairs
 


you need to put a long bar through the lca, then under the frame, then stand on it, then hit the lca @ the ball joint area with a hammer.
 
I've had to heat the knuckle with a torch where the ball joint goes through the knuckle, and then use a good sized Ford wrench on it and it finally popped loose. Keep the nut just to the top of the ball joint threads so you get a good hit on it without mushrooming the end of the joint.
 


The separator didnt slide on far enough to get the ball joint stud on the inside of the knuckle, the pry bar, with me (230 lbs) jumping (literally) on it and wifey smacking the knuckle, didn't budge and I don't have a torch. Im considering taking the knuckle off the strut so I can pull it down and out of the way. All I want is the stupid CV Axle anyway!
 


I just got used knuckles off eBay, my axel was also stuck in the bearing. Bfh did nothing. I was replacing the control arms anyways so the car was just down a few days while I waited for parts to arrive.
 
If all you're wanting is to remove the cv axle, I actually found it's easier just to disconnect the arm at the subframe, remove the axle nut and pry on the bushings until the arm comes free. Saves a bunch of time and frustration.
 
I have had to beat the hell out of the knuckle and arm its self on many occasions While having someone push down on the 4' snap on pry bar and then I had to continue beating it. Heat will help also. You can also pull the two control arm bolts and pull it out that way like said above ^.
 


Subframe, It will allow you to pull the control arm out enough to remove the axle. If you just unbolt the strut bolts you have the same situation of not being able to pull out the control arm because it is still connected at both the ball joint and subframe
 
And if you unbolt the strut your alignment will be off. If you are already getting and alignment then no biggie.
 
Thanks for all the help folks! Old axle is out (definitely had a bearing that was shot...little metal rods all in the housing) new axle is in an no more shaking! Thanks!
 
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