My experience with removing ball joints (MKII)

[Oteck]

i used the 3 way then a 2 way both failed me miserably. Now i used the pickle fork that failed me too but i found a way to use it by sticking a jack on the end of the bar and raised it. This thing was really stuck that it can hold the weight of the whole car, after a few secs i hear bang noise when it finally lets go. I had placed jack stands in places where it will land so no damage done

[MR-3sgte]

BEHOLD GODS SECERET TOOL TO REMOVING BALL JOINTS
and for those tricky ones you can add this

[MR-3sgte]

and the ball joint service kit from snap on only costs about 690 dollers

[Raptor13x]

Snap-on will charge you $500 for a screwdriver if you'll be dumb enough to pay it. I looked up a special service tool for a Honda from them, which was ~$20 on the internet (overpriced), and ~$50 at the dealer, and Snap-on was selling it for $229. Biggest ripoff EVER. I understand their tools are made 1% better than Craftsman, but why the HELL would you spend 20x more money when the other company is almost as good and has a lifetime guarantee?

[mattdouken]

1.Leave ball joint and arm on the car.
2. place jack under balljoint to support weight along with jack under car.
3. place crescent wrench between balljoint and arm.
4. stand on wrench and bounce.
5.ball joint pops out in about three bounces.

cost.$0 (because if you work on, anything you should have a crescent wrench)

[TomsMR2]

the way people do things on the internets is bizarre.

to remove ball joints i use...


... a ball joint press!

first picture you can see the press installed. its like a mini pickle fork, you have to tap it in. unlike a pickle fork, you dont have to SMASH it in and hope the ball joint goes shooting out (while laying on your back under a low car trying to swing a hammer). tap it in, screw it down. ball joint pops out.

the second picture you can see another view of the press. more importantly you can see the lower control arm. this is where people drive themselves nuts and do all sorts of stupid things (ive seen people try to use jacks and prybars to stuff the LCA back in) that big bolt on the rear on the strut rod needs to be loosened. back it all the way off and then unbolt strut rod from the frame side. it comes out easily, and goes back in easily. do this, it'll save you hours or possibly injury. especially with poly bushings, that thing gets STRONGLY loaded.

the 3rd pic you can see my purple gloves... thats all i have to say about that

[arber0214]

people do what hapens to be cheap and easy, looking at the first pic i see the lower nut still in the bolljoint. Is that so the the boll joint doesent just spring out? hahhahah. A fork works great, and you dont have to lay down to hamer it. Seems to me that you have been reading wrong all the input that people have said so far. By the way that press doesent look that strong, i would buy a reall one if i were you. You wouldent wont that to snap ander stress, you might get hurt bad.

[Oteck]

Originally Posted by TomsMR2

the way people do things on the internets is bizarre.

to remove ball joints i use...


... a ball joint press!

first picture you can see the press installed. its like a mini pickle fork, you have to tap it in. unlike a pickle fork, you dont have to SMASH it in and hope the ball joint goes shooting out (while laying on your back under a low car trying to swing a hammer). tap it in, screw it down. ball joint pops out.

the second picture you can see another view of the press. more importantly you can see the lower control arm. this is where people drive themselves nuts and do all sorts of stupid things (ive seen people try to use jacks and prybars to stuff the LCA back in) that big bolt on the rear on the strut rod needs to be loosened. back it all the way off and then unbolt strut rod from the frame side. it comes out easily, and goes back in easily. do this, it'll save you hours or possibly injury. especially with poly bushings, that thing gets STRONGLY loaded.

the 3rd pic you can see my purple gloves... thats all i have to say about that

I have one of those now, best $20 i spent.

[TomsMR2]

Originally Posted by arber0214

people do what hapens to be cheap and easy

i paid 15 or 20 bucks for it. doesnt get much cheaper, or easier.

ive done hundreds of ball joints every way you can imagine. not only have i read all the input, ive done it all the ways everyones listed and then some.

a ball joint press is the correct tool to remove ball joints. a pickle fork works terrible, especially on rusty cars. its tolerable on nice clean california cars where nothing seizes.. but even rust free cars just make the proper tool even easier to use.

but whatever. you can pry them out with chopsticks if it makes you happy or spend 20 bucks on a press. no sense fighting your car doing the job wrong, especially for the price.

[mattdouken]

once again............... crescent wrench, or wench to fit around the ball joint at the bottom. Cost nothing cuz you should already have one.

[TomsMR2]

that wont work on most cars. you're lucky it worked on yours.

[mattdouken]

Not to be rude, But I wont begin to count how many cars I have done it on over the last eleven years.

[arber0214]

Originally Posted by mattdouken

Not to be rude, But I wont begin to count how many cars I have done it on over the last eleven years.

i agree it will work, if that doesent happen hamer it twice should pop right out

[TomsMR2]

we're talking about a 20 dollar tool, to do it the right way. a quick search shows just tons of threads about people who just cant get their ball joints out. this is the answer. im glad a crescent wrench worked for you, but it doesnt work for most people. ive seen threads where people remove the control arm completely, put it in a vice and wail on it with a hammer for an hour before giving up. it happens, all tapered press fit anythings stick HARD given the right conditions.

in this case, doing it right isnt cost prohibitive. its frankly dirt cheap.

you can fix nearly everything on your car with a crescent wrench.. or you can pickup the proper tools. this is supposed to be an enthusiasts site, invest a little bit into tools, it pays off.

[mattdouken]

You are very correct sir, I just dont purchase specialty tools cuz I only use them once.

[Maruki-kun]

I found that leaving the castle nut on and hitting the housing parallel to the floor and not vertical to the balljoint works.

[affseofl2654]

Originally Posted by Kupop

I think a 3 jaw puller would just be a bit crowed... With the third jaw and different angles on them it seems that it wouldn't work as well. Just my opinion.

The SST is more similar to a 2 jaw puller than a 3 jaw puller.

I just pulled the hub out of the parts car on a mk1 rear. I had a 3 jaw el cheapo puller. To be able to get enough room for it, I had to take off the dust cover. It popped apart suddenly.

[dubmr2]

did my rears when replacing the clutch with a 20oz hammer while lying sideways under the car... took a few whacks, but nothing crazy.

gonna replace all 4 this winter, hopefully the fronts are the same

[marazaii]

i got a question for the pros, is there any difference between the na ball joints to a turbo ball joints, might be a dumb question to some people but i would like to know...

[V6'er]

Nope.