Balljoint seperating

[-Alex-]

What do you use? Seen the chisel type, scissor type and just wrap a strap round it, what would you deem to be the best method for removing them?

[SnakeVTR]

if its a wishbone ball joint, i hit the wishbone downwards with a hammer, works every time, i prybar will help aswell, if its a track rod end then hit the part of the hub where it sits with a hammer, and it will pop out :y:

[-Alex-]

if its a wishbone ball joint, i hit the wishbone downwards with a hammer, works every time, i prybar will help aswell, if its a track rod end then hit the part of the hub where it sits with a hammer, and it will pop out :y:

Cheers mate, not 100% which one it is, the one that attaches to the suspension leg, I'm assuming wishbone?

[SnakeVTR]

the suspension leg will be apart of the suspension strut (looks like a pole) which fits into the hub, (hub being the part which houses the bearing and holes for the track rod and ball joint to fit, the wishbone ball joint will be at the bottom of the hub, and will have a nut/bolt through it :y:

[-Alex-]

the suspension leg will be apart of the suspension strut (looks like a pole) which fits into the hub, (hub being the part which houses the bearing and holes for the track rod and ball joint to fit, the wishbone ball joint will be at the bottom of the hub, and will have a nut/bolt through it :y:

Thanks alot mate, just need to move the suspension legs so I can get the driveshafts out....fun fun fun!!

[SnakeVTR]

how come your removing the Driveshaft :cool:

[LSOfreak]

i find the ball joint splitter fork and a hammer good

[SnakeVTR]

i find the ball joint splitter fork and a hammer good

yea i use them if im replacing the ball joint, but if im doing a wheel bearing or something and im keeping the original il use the hammer and prybar method, as the ball joint splitters tend to ruin the rubber boot and all the grease comes out :y:

[-Alex-]

how come your removing the Driveshaft :cool:
Engine conversion :D
i find the ball joint splitter fork and a hammer good
Yeah they look good, but abit brutal, that's why the scissor version maybe abit more subtle.

[saxo-parts]

scissor version won't work on bottom balljoint, use the pry bar method, we have a 6 foot bar at the garage that we wedge under the floorpan and on top of the wishbone, gentle foot pressure on the end and a quick couple of clouts with a hammer and its out

[-Alex-]

Would you say a 600mm pry bar would be sufficient, obviously no where near 6ft that you have lol

[Mr_P]

Any half decent pry bar will suffice. Depends how well the balljoint is wedged into the strut. I got one very very stuck joint out using a bar about 600mm long.

But it took two of us and a lot of brute force.


If you're doing an engine change, it might be worth removing the wishbone altogether and takin the engine out from under the car. You can replace the bushes whilst you're there then :P and they separate easier when removing the whole arm.


Bit as others have said. The fork type separators make the job puss easy but do have a tendancy to ruin the rubber, so unless you plan on replacing the balljoint, I wouldn't use one.

[Lemmy92]

lol..Best way i found to do it was undo the pinch bolt, and jack up under the brake disc, lifts it away from the wishbone and tap down with a hammer if it's a bit solid.

[BobC]

Hey Alex,

I found that the bushes on the lower suspension arm were tight. A few whacks with a club hammer helped to release the grip of the hub carrier to balljoint but the hammering was not able to get the lower arm down enough. You could use the pry bar to gently open the hub carrier. So I did this:
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3871

You could use a knotted strap or a chain, whatever you have handy.

I struggled with a pry-bar to get the leverage point to be able to lever the lower arm far enough away to disengage it, a fork balljoint separator didn't work well either.