Help Please - Top & Bottom Front Ball Joints Removal

[Jaye R]

Hi all - long time no post

I've finally got the chassis welded and am on with the painting so, hopefully, will be starting putting things back together early next year

I want to remove & replace the top & bottom ball joints (as per photos below) - please can someone tell me how the hell I remove the old ones - is it just brute force or is there a 'proper' way to remove them???





Many thanks in advance.

Cheers
Jaye

[glenrobbo]

Hi Jaye,
Easiest when on the car with the balljoints under a bit of tension.
Hold a hammer on one side of the joint & clout the opposite side with another.
The shock will USUALLY free the taper.
If not, beg steal or borrow a balljoint splitter. The scissor type are better than the fork type. Wind up the balljoint splitter bolt so there's a bit of pressure, if it doesn't part the joint, a tap on the said bolt will usually free it.
Have fun

[S3THUNDER]

I tried the fork type,but couldn't shift them. Ended up using one that works by screwing a thread with a socket....a lot less aggressive. I got mine from Machine Mart. Worked really well. Undoing the rusted bolts was much harder. Ended up drilling some of them out.

[phillpot]

As Glen says, it's all about brute force!

Strike good and hard where indicated with a decent sized hammer and if possible hold an even bigger (lump) hammer the other side. The taper housing will distort minutely, releasing the joint.


We're talking a real good whack here, not tippy tappy

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|http://thumbsnap.com/3B6ttxUZ[/url]

[Kitchski]

You'll need the fork on the top one as the splitter type won't fit.

[Alan461]

Hi Jaye,

I used a pair of large open end spanners, big enough to go around the neck of the ball joint and forced them apart while ttting the shoulder of the ball joint.

Good luck with the rebuild

[glenrobbo]

phillpot said:

As Glen says, it's all about brute force!

Never use force. Get a bigger hammer

[Jaye R]

Many thanks for the advices - a big hammer it is then

Managed to get the 2nd coat of Por15 on the chassis today - next it's about 3 coats of red hammerite





Cheers
Jaye

[phillpot]

Bit late now but you should have got a couple of these


Hammered finish or Hammerite smooth?

[Stwdv]

I have to say I really take my hat off to you guys that do this in a single garage, well done

[Jaye R]

phillpot said:

Bit late now but you should have got a couple of these


Hammered finish or Hammerite smooth?

Ah well, the driveways seen all sorts of paint, oil, grease over the years - it'll be fine

Hammerite Smooth for the finish

Cheers
Jaye