Can't we seperate the ball joints on the 70? We have the frame sitting next to the body now and I missed my appt. with the bead blast guy because the stubburn-@$$ balljoints would not give on the driver side. Anyone have any tricks? We were usuing a hammer and ball-joint seperator which usually works like a charm (I've done this before) So what gives? Soaked the joint with WD-40...cotter pin out....nut is removed....it just don't want to go!!!!!!
http://www.clubcamaro.com/images/chevelle/images/DSC03444.jpg

The rest of the pics are in the sig.

Jack up the car.

Place a large 4 X 6 or greater on the ground, under the arm, with about 1 inch of clearence from the bottom of the arm. Don't rest the arm on the lumber. This is for safety so the arm can't break loose and hit the ground.
With the spring still in, back the ball joint nut up so that the top of the castle is above the spindle threads.
Hit the top of the nut with a 4 pound machinists hammer until the ball joint pops loose. The backed up nut prevents damage to the ball joint threads. After it has popped loose, the ball joint will try to spin while removing the nut. Use a vice grips to hold the shaft from spinning as you finish removing the nut.
Haven't found one that would not separate this way.

Currently I have a spring compressor in the shock location compressing the spring pretty good and a chain going through the spring to secure it from taking flight. The chain is also fashioned in a way that will not let the lower control arm shoot down and gouge the garage floor. It's like the damn shaft of the balljoint has siezed in the spindle!!! No joke.....maybe I just need to apply more force...yeah, I'll get a machinist's hammer. Need one anyway.

PUT THE NUT BACK ON FIRST!
Take out your spring compressor. Loosen the chain to give you an inch or so of slack. Then do as described above. Loosen the nut and give things a whack. The force of the spring is what pops the joint lose.

Mine popped with the pickle fork and force of the spring together.

Tim.

Is that going to be safe since I don't have the weight of the car(or anything) holding the frame down. It's just sitting on jackstands as you see in the picture....otherwise I'll go ahead and give it a try....though I don't want the control arm on the bottom to pop so bad that the reciprocating force jumps the frame 5'in the air!!!!

We are not telling you to remove the nut all the way as you pop loose the ball joints. Yes the spring has force but that's what the wood block is for..safety. The arm can only fall down one inch. Put the compressor back in afterwards (when the joints pops) if it helps you.
Yes pull that spring compressor out and use the force of the spring.

Ok, got it! I'll post up and tell you guys what happens. I've just never had this problem with balljoints before...little bastards..
Thanks for your guys' help and quick responses.
graemlins/thumbsup.gif

This is why we have a ball joint fork and a BFH smile.gif . 2 whacks and off it comes. I must have done this 20 times already. A little trick I learned when it comes to the springs, take out the lower control arm bolts and pop out the lower arm with a pry bar. This way, the spring won't come flying out at you.

I did my 70 recently and the ball joionst were a real PITA. At first I tried putting a 2x4 over the top of the ball joint and hitting it with the BFH, but it split the 2x4. So I got a pickle fork and it worked eventually, but put a gouge in the top and bottom of the fork tines about 1/8th of an inch deep. Pretty freaking stubborn.

your using the wrong stuff. wd-40 sucks. you should be using PB blaster or what ever its called. it is a real good penatrant. and use a real ball joint puller not those rediculas good for nothing pickel forks graemlins/sad.gif

Anoter thing to do is place a 2nd 4 lb hammer touching the opposite side where you are hitting the pickle fork. The blow will be "deadened" and transfer some of the force back to the joint for a double whammy.

There was a home-made gizmo detailed in the March Super Chevy, page 20, bottom. (my scanner's dead, so I'll try and describe it).

This guy used the following parts:

a 5/8" threaded rod coupler (a hex shaped piece of steel, threaded all the way through)
2) 5/8" bolts, about 2" long.

Use a 1/2 drill bit, and make a "dimple" in the center of each bolt head. These dimples will allow the ball joint stud to have a register to fit into so the tool doesn't slip out.

1) Loosen the ball joint nuts several turns.
2) Thread the bolts into the coupler a bit, then install the tool into the steering knuckle between the ball joint studs.
3) Thread out the bolts equally so they bear on the ball joint stud ends.
4) Use a wrench, and hold one of the bolts.
5) Use another wrench, and tighten the coupler, forcing the bolts apart, and pushing the BJ studs in the opposite direction.

Visualize a "screw jack" between the studs. If you pre-load the BJ studs with enough force, a good smack on the steering knuckle near the BJ should pop it loose.

Originally posted by John D:
There was a home-made gizmo detailed in the March Super Chevy, page 20, bottom. (my scanner's dead, so I'll try and describe it).

Brings back memories.
Use a method similar to that one time. Had an outer wheel bearing collapse and freeze weld on the spindle in 1976 in Austin, MN. An old guy saw me working at it in an auto parts parking lot. Believe it was called Champion Auto Parts but it's been a few years.
Had popped the upper one but not the lower. Came back with a threaded rod and a few nuts. Used that to compress the lower one by cranking the rod down with the nuts on each side of the upper spindle.

I used a shock mount bolt from the rear of the SPrint along with a large socket to pop my front joints loose. Be prepared for the big "pop" when the thing turns loose, I spent five minutes looking for something broken...

In most cases if you loosen the castle nut a few turns and place a block of wood an inch or less under the lower control arm (as mentioned above) all you need to do is give the boss around the lower ball joint a solid whack or two (on the side of the boss....not in a downward movement on top of the boss!) and it should come loose. I did it with mine and it worked on the first solid hit I applied! The cast iron that the spindle is made of will take the hit, don't worry...it won't break! (I used a short handle 40 oz. sledge hammer)

Apparently this is a common way of removing them unless you want to take the chance of ruining the ball joint threaded section.

Since the ball joints are a tapered fit I don't see how any penetrating oils will help the situation out, they work the same way any taper fit works as in a collet on a lathe or milling machine would. Only on those machines you can remove them by tapping them from the top - there is no threaded section to damage. I wouldn't recommend hitting the ball joint from the top of the nut.

I've done the hit the spindle with a BFH too, that works out pretty well sometimes too.

I find if I use 2 big hammers and hit on both sides of the spindle (where the taper is) at the same time that it usually lets go within a few hits. Whenever I try it with 1 hammer it never seems to work. Even when I hold a hammer on one side and hit on the opposite side with another it's not likely to let go. It takes a little co-ordination to get both hammers to hit at the same time so that's usually why it takes a few hits (or tries).

When I don't care about the ball joints I just remove the nut and hit the end of the ball joint as hard as I can till it came off.

Peter