Ford Enthusiast

[JMKeene]

Hi jonmark,

Per the photo that was attached, it's the lower ball joint that's stuck in position, not the upper. The lower ball joint shaft is tapered, so I'd think it would just drop out of the arm with enough force put on it, but I actually bent a ball joint tool trying to force the threaded shaft downward.

They warn against using a pickle-fork and/or heat to get the ball joint out, and my pickle fork isn't large enough to go around the lower ball joint shaft anyway. I'm considering using a sawzall on the ball joint to get it off, if I can get through hardened metal, and then deal with the shaft with a little more room to spare. I've sprayed it multiple times with penetrating oil, and I'm gonna let that sit overnight and see what happens. I've got a TurboTorch, too, and I'm thinking of heating up the ball joint at the threaded end and again trying force or adding more penetrating oil, once the shaft is heated. I'm aware that heating the whole wheel spindle could ruin it, so I'm gonna have to be careful of that, but what are my other options? I've put enough force on this little ball joint to bend tools, and it's not even budging. I'm not even sure the Sawzall could get through the ball joint shaft, but at this point, I'm getting nervous since the van is gonna be waylayed up on jackstands until I get this thing done.

I've attached a couple more pics, this time of the new lower ball joint, You can see the tapered shaft - that's where the old one appears to be frozen in position. The bottom of the ball joint is still in the wheel spindle, and the top part of the shaft is (apparently) frozen in the suspension arm. What to do???

Anyone???

Thanks in advance,

Joe