Any of yall’, ever used the Autozone, Napa, Pepboys, or commercial available lower ball joint remover/installer that you can rent at your local parts store? I know the Helms manual calls out the special tool you need from Acura for their specs. But will the sockets that come in the rental case at these store do the job? They look like they may be to “beefy” to fit around the knuckle or around the ball joint. Has anyone performed this job with satisfaction without using Acura’s special socket and just utilizing the parts stores rental tools?
Is it a giant fork looking tool or a vice looking tool with a point that screws and “trys” to push out the ball joint from the bolt area?
All the times we’ve removed ball joints just hit the lower part of the knuckle where the ball joint sits in, you just have to have good aim or you’ll end up hitting the ball joint. That always loosens the ball joint with in 2 hits.
i believe there’s a little nub sticking out the side of the LCA which is used to grip the claws of the removal tool. it’s a good spot to aim for with the hammer. there’s one on each side. rotate from side to side, as stated previously, it should jostle it loose in a couple hits or so. if it doesn’t work after a few minutes, then i’d think about renting the tool. the fork type does tend to rip the shit out of the boot though, so unless you’re replacing the unit, i’d stay clear of it
don’t need them. take the castle nut and thread it on the ball joint “bolt” until it’s flush with the bottom of the bolt. that is thread it so that it’s secure and protecting the bolt, but there is space between the arm and the nut. now take a ball peen hammer and wack the arm. you’ll be able to tell when it’s popped loose. try it.
Thanks everyone, but I’m not needing to “pop” the balll joint out from the lower control arm from the knuckle, I’m needing to REPLACE the ball joint, which means extracting the ball joint from the knuckle. I’ve heard of using any home vise and extracting it, but I wanted to rent the ball joint extractor kit to do it right.
looks like the tool will work, our you can just simply use a hammer to hit the ball joint out of the knuckle after removing the c-clip and hammer it back in
yeah that tools does work i use it at work. but for our car and about 95% of others i just use a mini hand held sledge hammer and they usually come out fairly easy.
I think the OP is asking how to actually remove the ball joint NOT popping it from the control arm but anyways…
Yeah the extraction tool kit works. Saved me lots of time. DO NOT pound the new ball joint back into place… it might damage it… use the tool… that’s what it’s for. The tool makes the ball joint go in evenly.
+1 on that. I too used the tool and it helped. Made the ball joint slide in with even pressure. Its a pain in the ass but once you figure it out its all good.
New joint with the old (note the new type don’t actually have a C Clip so hammering it in isn’t really ideal)
The new ball joints I just purchased, have the C Clip removed from the new boot, so they can be installed after the ball joint is installed, which may allow for hammering, but I will probably just use the C Clamp. Thanks again.
