Ball Joint Tools

That's why I thought the air hammer would do the trick. I would need a
massive brass transplant to get me to swing a regular hammer under the car
the way it would take to upset a ball joint.

Mike

 

Just did 2 on a rusty Subaru today Time spent total 2 minutes; and that
included putting down the prepare in my hand.
I admit; I was a pickle fork user until 1.5 years ago. I kept watching
another tech pull joints apart after one or two blows from a hammer. I got
my biggest hammer and gave it a try.
My pickle fork has been out of the box 1 time this year.



--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/bl_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/

 

Just did 2 on a rusty Subaru today Time spent total 2 minutes; and that
included putting down the prepare in my hand.
I admit; I was a pickle fork user until 1.5 years ago. I kept watching
another tech pull joints apart after one or two blows from a hammer. I got
my biggest hammer and gave it a try.
My pickle fork has been out of the box 1 time this year.



--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/bl_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/

 

The JTC Auto Tools ball joint separator #1727 that I
purchased on Ebay (specifically suggested by Ryan Biggs
here) arrived this past Thursday (four business days after
purchase). Cost: $25 + another $10 for shipping. Today I
used it to successfully separate my Civic's front pass. side
ball joint. This is in preparation for replacing the front
control arm bushings on both sides. The tool worked great.
Tips:

-- Diagrams for positioning the tool appear in several of
the manuals at
http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html . The factory
service manuals and my Chilton's manual are a little vague
about using any particular special tool on the lower control
arm ball joints (as compared to other ball joints in the
front suspension). Nonetheless, it works perfectly.

-- Per Curly's suggestion, I ground a shallow hole where the
bolt pin pushes against the tool's arm.

-- I found I did not need to grind the "claws" so as to fit
around the rubber boot better. They are actually pretty
smooth already on this particular version of the tool. It
seems to have been made carefully so as to preclude a torn
boot. I did tap a little on the tool to push the claws
firmly into place.

-- I only used one stage of the two stages on this
particular tool. The ball joint separated with a loud pop
about mid-way through the bolt advance. I used a 1.5 foot
breaker bar and 15/16-inch socket. But not too much force
was necessary to get the ball joint apart.

-- I flipped the castle nut and reinstalled it until its
bottom was flush with the bottom of the ball joint bolt, per
Eric's and Tegger's direction. Worked great. No damage of
anything from all I can see.

-- Reinstalling was a cinch, as Michael indicated. I lifted
the control arm (just a little inboard of the ball joint
bolt) using a scissors jack against the weight of the car,
and I heard the joint snapped back into place. The joining
snap was more muted than the separating snap. I installed
the castle nut about where I thought it should be, then
fully removed the jack. I torqued it to spec. (only 32
ft-lbs for my Civic). Then I advanced it a bit more to line
up the cotter pin holes and installed the pin. Then I put
the wheel back on and removed the jack stand.

-- I think the cheaper version of this tool one sees online
(the one that is "single stage") might very well work fine,
except I'd double check that the claws didn't tear the boot
rubber.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am quite pleased with the
progress. The last hurdle in my front suspension renovation
project is now actually pressing the new bushings in place.
My new Mugen bushings arrive Wednesday. I start trying to
install them, per the tips here, on Thursday.

 

The JTC Auto Tools ball joint separator #1727 that I
purchased on Ebay (specifically suggested by Ryan Biggs
here) arrived this past Thursday (four business days after
purchase). Cost: $25 + another $10 for shipping. Today I
used it to successfully separate my Civic's front pass. side
ball joint. This is in preparation for replacing the front
control arm bushings on both sides. The tool worked great.
Tips:

-- Diagrams for positioning the tool appear in several of
the manuals at
http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html . The factory
service manuals and my Chilton's manual are a little vague
about using any particular special tool on the lower control
arm ball joints (as compared to other ball joints in the
front suspension). Nonetheless, it works perfectly.

-- Per Curly's suggestion, I ground a shallow hole where the
bolt pin pushes against the tool's arm.

-- I found I did not need to grind the "claws" so as to fit
around the rubber boot better. They are actually pretty
smooth already on this particular version of the tool. It
seems to have been made carefully so as to preclude a torn
boot. I did tap a little on the tool to push the claws
firmly into place.

-- I only used one stage of the two stages on this
particular tool. The ball joint separated with a loud pop
about mid-way through the bolt advance. I used a 1.5 foot
breaker bar and 15/16-inch socket. But not too much force
was necessary to get the ball joint apart.

-- I flipped the castle nut and reinstalled it until its
bottom was flush with the bottom of the ball joint bolt, per
Eric's and Tegger's direction. Worked great. No damage of
anything from all I can see.

-- Reinstalling was a cinch, as Michael indicated. I lifted
the control arm (just a little inboard of the ball joint
bolt) using a scissors jack against the weight of the car,
and I heard the joint snapped back into place. The joining
snap was more muted than the separating snap. I installed
the castle nut about where I thought it should be, then
fully removed the jack. I torqued it to spec. (only 32
ft-lbs for my Civic). Then I advanced it a bit more to line
up the cotter pin holes and installed the pin. Then I put
the wheel back on and removed the jack stand.

-- I think the cheaper version of this tool one sees online
(the one that is "single stage") might very well work fine,
except I'd double check that the claws didn't tear the boot
rubber.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am quite pleased with the
progress. The last hurdle in my front suspension renovation
project is now actually pressing the new bushings in place.
My new Mugen bushings arrive Wednesday. I start trying to
install them, per the tips here, on Thursday.