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I bought a cheap ball joint tool off of Amazon... the opening is about 6”, I know used about 5” or more to remove the ball joint... there was a lot of slop on threaded cast and steel rod section. I made sure the threads were greased. I’m was surprised it worked. And some of attachments weren’t exactly made to push the ball joint completely out... I did some improvising to make it work.
I bought a cheap ball joint tool off of Amazon... the opening is about 6”, I know used about 5” or more to remove the ball joint... there was a lot of slop on threaded cast and steel rod section. I made sure the threads were greased. I’m was surprised it worked. And some of attachments weren’t exactly made to push the ball joint completely out... I did some improvising to make it work.
Here’s a picture...
This is a ball joint replacement tool not a ball joint separating tool. The larger separator kit that HF sells comes with a few tools in it for and I believe it is the pitman arm pulling tool I use to get in there and pop the upper and lower ball joints loose with. Just my 2 cents.
Why are you separating the ball joints if you are just replacing bolt on wheel bearings?
access to the bottom bolt of the unit bearing is covered by the top nut of the lower ball joint. So you have to remove, at a minimum, the lower control arm from the knuckle, to get clearance to the bolts.
Be sure not to get a pickle fork or any device that looks like a tuning fork, that will most likely destroy your balljoint upon removal (or at least shred the rubber parts). Only do that when you are removing the ball joints and throwing them away.
I ended up grinding some of the Harbor Freight tool to get the mouth to open wider - worked like a champ!
Replaced the bearings at all four corners. This is primarily a track ar so I like the idea of having fresh bearings!
One "learned the hard way" piece that I'd share is that if you are replacing the rear wheel bearing, do NOT take the e-brake apart! The spring clip that holds the e-brake shoes is place was designed by a sadist! What a pain in the you know what!
Otherwise, a lot to take a part and reassemble but all pretty straight forward.
Once again, thank you one and all for your input!
Stay safe!
Jeff
Smack around where the ball joint goes through with a big hammer. It will usually pop after a couple of hits.
This. This is all you need to do. Couple of whacks with a 3lb mini sledge on the flat face near the ball joint and it should drop right out. Forget using pickle forks or the like.
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Ball Joint Separator Tool
