I dont know if you are aware of this but i wasnt untill i did a set of coil overs to my 90 ls sedan that you after taking out the cotter pin and nut can just hit the metal around where the ball joints go into the suspension with a hammer a few good whacks and the ball joint pops right off without having to use a ball joint seperator, and doesnt bend or hurt the suspension! i didnt know this but it did save me a whole lot of time!
I guess it depends on how hard it is stuck… One time using the pickle fork method (before I learned about the seperator) … I needed a sledge hammer on the end of it to get it apart, only after giving it like 100 good whacks.
Just like on the outer tie rod end, you could also just whack the metal part of the tie rod upwards, also. (not to mention whacking the ring part on the knuckle) If it doesnt come loose, then use the seperator…
Overall, I’m just comfortable using the seperator, and it doesn’t waste much more time.
the separator tears the boots… whack the housing
yeah, “whack” the bottom of the bolt…and mushroom it so you cant get the nut back on. smart :roll: use the right tools
I work on cars all the time and the fork tool is a must.Your got lucky your ball joint was loss. Most cars i work on i have to use the fork. Of course this cars are all stock and never been missed with.
It all dependes on the car if it was missed with latly or has never been touched.
As in our cars just leave the bolt on loose so when you hammer it it doesnt hit the threads, just the bolt. And your good.
fork works good…
good for seperating ball joints, and seperating axles from half shafts…