lower ball joint stuck

[freshley]

Ok so i'm replacing my tie rod ends shocks and lower ball joints and have everything apart except the lower tie rod end wont come loose from the lower control arm. The 4 bolts came out pretty easy but the main bolt through the joint just won't budge no matter how much I beat on it. I went to A-zone and got a 3 jaw puller but it just slips off and the screw part of it starts to bend. Would a pickle fork do the job? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as now I'm stuck!

 

[theizzardking]

Ok so i'm replacing my tie rod ends shocks and lower ball joints and have everything apart except the lower tie rod end wont come loose from the lower control arm. The 4 bolts came out pretty easy but the main bolt through the joint just won't budge no matter how much I beat on it. I went to A-zone and got a 3 jaw puller but it just slips off and the screw part of it starts to bend. Would a pickle fork do the job? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as now I'm stuck!

yeah a pickle fork should work since you're tossing everything anyways, i managed to use the jaw pullers with some zip ties to get it to go. you got to fool with it to get the tension right and everything lined up before you start wrenching on it, also if you think these maybe used again go get a good pair from northern tool or something of the sort.

 

[imboredeveryday]

what u should have done was leave the bolts in and on the lower part on the tie rod leave the bolt some what on hit it with a hammer it will pop free then remove the rest of the bolts

 

[Shibby!]

Pullers worked for me as shown above. Except mine is a bit smaller and my larger one wouldn't fit. I think it's a 5T, and my larger is a 7T.

I've heard of the hammer trick too. Pickle forks damage seals, but you are just removing so it's not an issue.

 

[rjaudi]

You need something like this:

OEM/Pitman arm puller box (27016) | Pitman Arm Puller | AutoZone.com

 

[freshley]

pickle fork did the job! Even with that, it took about 20 minutes of beating on it till it finally gave. Stubborn little PIA. Hopefully the other side will work better.

 

[fish0281]

Just did mine and I used a ball-joint separator tool from pep boys. It worked really well and fast, but those things are in there GOOD if they're the original. It sounded like a gun when they broke loose and I fell over backwards!

 

[Drcoffee]

Pickle fork is great but if you want to save the tie rod, put the 4 bolts back in and use the floor jack to lift from under the tie rod stud with the vehicle weight loading up the tie rod stud. then wack the LCA next to the stud with a hammer. Use a block of wood between the floor jack and stud to give you room to hit it with the hammer. the combination of load on the stud and shock to the LCA will pop it off.