I replaced the ball joints on both sides of my 96 OBW recently. The drivers side practically fell out of the A-arm. The passenger side, not so much.

 

So looking around the garage for a tool to use to help persuade the ball joint out I found something that would work. First a ton of master blaster was sprayed in the joint. I used a pipe wrench to get it to spin in the knuckle so I knew it was loose. I just needed a way to pull it out.

 

A 2" hole saw just happens to be the perfect size. I kept adding washers as the ball joint started to come out of the knuckle. Once it was out I tested the hole saw and it still cut round holes in 2x4's.

 

Hopefully this will come in handy if run across any stubborn ball joints.

You had it easy if you could actually spin it in the knuckle. And you didn't even have to drill out the pinch bolts?

 

My usually method is a pry bar and a big friggen hammer.

Chisel or large screwdriver to spread the pinch, then wail on the knuckle while prying down on the control arm.

Yea, you got lucky on that one. I still maintain there's never an excuse to break the pinch bolts, if they don't come loose with a wrench you need to heat them up or they'll break off. I've had to cut the ball joints into pieces with a die grinder through the pinch bolt slot, though...

 

I've seen people apply unreasonable force to things like the pinch slot and break one ear off, etc. It's ridiculous. I live in land of the rust, you have to be patient.

just getting the pinch bolt out can be problematic in rust country... had one snap off once, even after repeated applications of penetrating oil and heat.    ended up swapping the whole arm. Luckily we had a parts car on hand to steal the arm from...

Yea, you got lucky on that one. I still maintain there's never an excuse to break the pinch bolts, if they don't come loose with a wrench you need to heat them up or they'll break off.

I did one about a year ago that the pinch bolt was rusted about halfway through in the middle. Instead of being an 8mm bolt it was only about 4-5mm of solid metal in the center. I barely turned it and it just snapped.

just getting the pinch bolt out can be problematic in rust country... had one snap off once, even after repeated applications of penetrating oil and heat.    ended up swapping the whole arm. Luckily we had a parts car on hand to steal the arm from...

 

Sounds the same as the one I did on my wifes 2000 Outback which was a Wisconsin car. Ended up drilling it all the way out an putting a new bolt through with lock washers.

 

Enough salt will eventually destroy anything metal. I've gotten good at working through rusty stuff, but north midwest winters are brutal on cars. Seen quarter panels starting to show rust on 2011 and 2012 model cars already.

 

For that reason, I'm glad to be in California.

you guys have it ruff, Ive never had trouble like that on the west coast