veritas4156

alright i have a problem, i have a 1996 mustang coupe 6 cyl. i had to grind the nut off of the threads on the top half of the ball joint which connects to the spindle on the back of the brake assembly near the steering knuckle, and now i cant get the damn thing out of the spindle. i tried banging on the spindle, i tried wd40ing it and letting it sit and banging on it, i tried heating it and banging on it, i tried putting a c-clamp on it, and it still wont budge. all i can think of now is grinding the threaded part of the ball joint pin off and then drilling through but thats a real last resort. any ideas? im getting desperate

P Zero

Get a heavier hammer and hit it again. Youre not hitting it hard enough. I use a 3lb mini sledge to work on cars. Claw hammers are for wood NOT for cars. A nice heavy ball peen hammer might work well also.
Also, use a jack and lift just the rotor/slightly compress the strut. The bushings in the front LCA are bolted in a certain position and will actually spring back.
-P.

MustangMike2001

Have you not tryed a fork?

Chopper

You have to support the control arm to keep the bushing from absorbing the impact of the hammer.Use a small jack or wood blocks to support the CA and bash away.
A last resort would be to remove the control arm and spindle as a unit and pound it while on a work bench where you can get a good swing with the hammer.Another last resort would be to put it back together and take it to a shop that does front end work.

veritas4156

i got it, c-clamp, heat and hammer all at once. almost got hit by a flying c-clamp when it finally went. but yeah i did try the fork before, i just forgot to list it.