Well I started taking apart my suspension to replace everything. I got the inner and outer tie rods off "ok". But when I tried to drop the LCA I just can't seem to get the ball joint to separate from the spindle. I'm using a pickle fork and a BFH, but it won't seem to budge. Everything I read just says get a bigger hammer, but does anyone have any other tricks? Would it be worth dropping the UCA/spindle/LCA as an assembly and trying to use a press? Any help is appreciated.

 

What you need are two BFH's.Thread the ball joint retaining nut on a few threads to keep everything from falling to the ground. Put one on one side of the spindle and whack the other side really, really hard. The idea is to deform the round hole in the spindle to release the ball joint. Lacking an actual ball joint separator, this is the preferred shop method.

 

Does deforming the hole in the spindle affect reassembly and future use?

 

Nope. The cast iron spindle has plenty of play in it. We're talking about a couple thousands deformation that pops right back into shape as soon as the ball joint pops out.

 

Thanks for the help, I'll give it a try.

 

Well I got a bigger hammer and it solved the problem. It was kind of a bitter sweet victory, given that I spent about 3 hours working on them before, and after getting the 4lb sledge, I got both sides off in under a minute.

I had another question though. I tried to remove the pivot bolts from the LCA's and the main cross member seems to be in the way from removing the bolts, do you have to remove the main bar? And if so, are you supposed to brace the car in any way? Thanks.

 

In the future....air hammer and pickle fork....about 60 seconds....maybe 120 seconds if it's really stuck to remove tie rods and lower/upper from spindle

 

never thought of an air hammer, I'll have to remember that....

 

I still hate pickle forks. The 'proper' way to do it is with a puller, and the next best way is the double-BFH method. That way you don't damage anything if you need to put it back together. It usually only takes a couple whacks anyway.

As far as the cross brace goes, I've never had problems with my car shifting while the cross brace was out. Obviously you shouldn't drive it like that, but go ahead and take it out, then pop it back in if you're afraid you won't be able to get it back in later.

 

I had the same issue. I am telling you, get a 5lb hammer and give it 3-4 GOOD SOLID blows and it'll pop right out. You gotta smack it and it will drop with the force behind it. Over and done!