I removed the lower bolt for the front endlink and moved that out of the way.. removed the pinch bolt.. removed the castle nut for the balljoint.. Now how do I get this thing out?? It's like glued to the control arm.. I have a ball joint separator and I stood on the bar and it still wont move.

Ok got the passgener side out.. Rust belt sucks when it finally broke free I thought I broke something

what brand replacement did you get? for me, the benkley (sp) was a PITA to get into the hub.

They can be a real pita. Just separated one today to change a split cv boot. Removed the castle nut and pried down on the control arm while wailing on the knuckle with a 3lb hammer. Popped loose after a few good whacks. I've tried twice to get them out of the knuckles on both sides and have not had any luck. Probably gonna end up using a slide hammer on them when they finally need to be changed.

what brand replacement did you get? for me, the benkley (sp) was a PITA to get into the hub.

 

 

I got Mevotech (sp)

 

here are the pictures

 

passenger side

 

 

 

spent almost 2 hours trying to get the driver's side out

 

 

in place

 

i started to remove my hub last weekend and i was frustrated by the lower ball joint. but while messing with it i learned that the threads on the castle nut are the same as the lug nuts. so would it be helpful to thread a spare lug nut on the ball joint and place a jack under it and then beat down on it??

 

just wondering?? anything to make it easier. i know from banging nails into wood, if the piece of wood vibrates or wiggles it is really hard to drive the nail in, more than twice as hard. but if the wood is on a firm surface it it goes in easy.

after popping out the stud, i would put the castle nut back on and whack at the control arm with a 3 lb hammer, and use pipes between the body and control arm to push down.

 

clean out the rust really well and use anti seize compound when going back together

damn my aliment is off I think I threaded one too many turns on the passenger side to drive straight I have to turn the steering wheel slight to the left.

 

Good thing I have old tires I don't care about

you can make one turn increment adjustments to get it back where it was. if it's just the outer tie rod it can only be off by concrete 360 degree increments right?

 

ball joints come out every time in 1 minute or less with a pickle fork. i think i posted here or another forum awhile ago about the same issues and someone...i think johnfromky mentioned pickle fork. works every single time and is quick.

 

the only down side is that even with greasing i can't do it without the tool ripping the boot. i don't care as time is more important than money. most of the time though i'm replacing the ball joint anyway so it doesn't matter.

i was using a pickle fork on the balljoint

after popping out the stud, i would put the castle nut back on and whack at the control arm with a 3 lb hammer, and use pipes between the body and control arm to push down.

I did that on a car in the junkyard that i was trying to get a control arm off of and ended up bending the control arm. I just wanted the bushing off the back of it.

wow the control arm is bendable?

 

I need new bushing on my end links or rather new endlinks period.. wow is that some cracked rubber.

If you hit it hard enough.

 

No actually the control arms are designed to bend in case of an up-close encounter with the ditch or curb to prevent damage to the frame of the car.

I was scared last night I was going to bend it.. I was putting my whole body weight on the pickfork and jumping on it (I'm 126 Lb) I was like wow crap this thing is in good.. So I took my torch heated it up for about a min then quickly set in the pickle fork and I think in about 2 or 3 jumps it popped right out.

You know a pickle fork is supposed to be used as a wedge right? You hammer on th back of the handle to force it between the control arm and knuckle which prys the stud out of the control arm.

You know a pickle fork is supposed to be used as a wedge right? You hammer on th back of the handle to force it between the control arm and knuckle which prys the stud out of the control arm.

 

I know that.. I spent 3 min hammering it in and it had no effect trust me man the only thing that worked was heat and me jumping on it :-/ I see you live in VA so hardly any salt..

 

This car has spent all it's life in the NE.. MA, NYC and now CT.