help im going crazy

[ryan88lxi]

im replacing my front left lower control arm after an ice/curb incident. i have the whole lower arm un bolted from everything (sway bar, radius rod, damper fork) but i cant get it off this god damn socket thing that is like onthe bottom of th brke disc. it s impossible. can anyone help me??? please before i sart to g nuts and take a blow torch to it:mad:

[88 Accord DX]

cutting torches are friends

[GreenMachine]

the lower ball joint ? Get a ball joint splitter, you'll prob need a new ball joint after using it though. Its like a big fork that is like a wedge ya just pound in there to split it. Other than that - BIG HAMMER - oh and its prob easier with the arm attached to the car to split it

[ryan88lxi]

yeah i just did tha tabout 10 minutes ago, but it took a lot of pounding with a hammer to get it off which worries me because its gonna be hard as shit to get back on

[Tim Yoak]

:( well you just ruined your ball joint give it a couple hundred miles and it will start knocking around. why does everyone use that stone age ball joint splitter when the right tool is cheap and won't ruin the joint. No don't use a bigger hammer. here is a picture of the correct tool. http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid51/p74029882171cad07e32cfe60927162f4/fca57d18.jpg the bottom arms go under the knuckle, then you losen the castleated nut until it's on just a few turns, this keeps the two parts from flying apart, you screw the center down on the part that sticks through the knuckle, then you tighten it with a wrench until the two parts seperate. no drama, no damage. no hammer. as far as putting it back together, you put the threaded part back through the hole and tighten the nut until the two parts pull together. here is another pic. remember to remove the cotter key first or it will be very difficult to get the nut off:lol this is a rear ball joint, but the principle is the same. just leave the nut on a couple of threads. http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid51/pff7422e8c06b4aed0f867720c6ea0b41/fca57a1c.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid51/p21ea8597e4d40d1aa2d7c1c4706fd1ac/fca57a1b.jpg

[ryan88lxi]

shiiiiiiit, thats not good. i actually rented a tool similar to the on that you have in the pictures there but th arms were adustable and they were too long so i couldnt get the grabber things onto the part that they needed to be on. so i took itback and got a ball joint puller and got it off. it took a good bit of hammering and im not sure if i can get a different lower arm back on there. im gonna work on it some tomorrow so i gues we'll see how it works out

[Tim Yoak]

You rented that tool? it only cost me about 5 or 6 dollars to buy it at advance, if I go back there will try to find company of tool,when you beat on a ball jjoint not only does it mushroom the threads it damages the joint internally so it starts to wear, thats the point of these tools to keep that from happening. you are supposed to use even pressure to force it out. the only time to beat on one is when you are removing one from the knuckle itself then you would be repalcing it anyway. then it takes a press to put it back in. actually there is a way to remove one from the knuckle without damaging it too, but if you go to that trouble why not replace it, couldn't see a reason to remove from knuckle and put back. Oh if you find a source for just the boot let me know, everyone said there is not a seperate boot for the joint available. in other words you tear up the rubber boot you have to buy a new joint. makes sense doesn't it?:mad: :wtf: what have they been smoking?

[Scorpion88LX]

I used the same tool as tim but it was adjustable i had know problems.

[Tim Yoak]

If I find this one agin I will post who makes it only one i found that fits but I'm sure there are more