Ball joints stuck

[TheMuGuy]

Hey, I'm in the middle of replacing the passenger side CV in my 1995 Isuzu MU and I need to get the 3 ball joints off but they seem to be stuck I've been using a Ball Joint Desperate but they don't move at all, wondering if anyone else has came across this problem and what they've done to solve it? Thank you

[geeves]

Ball Joint Desperate
Im guessing you mean separator
There are several types The one I like best looks like a G clamp with the bolt in the wrong place but I also use one that looks like a pair of deformed vice grips. The type that looks like a cocktail fork but slightly larger can destroy balljoints if used incorrectly and is nearly impossible to use without splitting the boot. I have one and only use it if I expect to replace that joint.
Using the clamp types should be easy. Wind it up on the joint till tight say roughly 40 to 50 foot pound. Then with a 2 pound hammer hit the side of the hub assembly casting beside the joint with max determination. If it doesnt release suddenly hit it twice as hard. The shock will break it free. It is a good idea to leave the nut on the joint loose to stop it exploding in your face but dont do what I did and keep bashing it for 15 minutes after it had released.
Good mechanics will tell you there is no need to use a separator and that an indecent hit on the casting will always release it. I tried this and my second shot missed and dented the chassis.

[Downhillnz]

^^ On the money. I had a lower balljoint that wouldn't come out. I bought a balljoint seperator because the sledge hammer I was using wasn't doing it.
Still didn't come out. I had to swap the hub out in end.

[geeves]

They always come out. Some do require teacjhing the whole neibourhood your entire dictionary of bad words though. Sometimes holding a heavy block on the oposite side of the joint helps. I have a 5 pound club hammer to hold on on side Need extra hands for this while you hit it with a 2 pound hammer. Dont miss. A sledge hammer cant hit the joint fast enough to give the required shock which is why the 2 pounder is better.

[Downhillnz]

They always come out. Some do require teacjhing the whole neibourhood your entire dictionary of bad words though. Sometimes holding a heavy block on the oposite side of the joint helps. I have a 5 pound club hammer to hold on on side Need extra hands for this while you hit it with a 2 pound hammer. Dont miss. A sledge hammer cant hit the joint fast enough to give the required shock which is why the 2 pounder is better.

They always say if the hammer doesn't get it. Heat does. Well they were wrong. I wonder if it was installed with amalgamating paste of some kind.

[geeves]

If you heated the casting saw it in half and throw it away. The risk of a micro crack forming and eventually becoming a real crack and the potential results of that crack are just to high. Front suspension failure at speed = big crash.

[Downhillnz]

If you heated the casting saw it in half and throw it away. The risk of a micro crack forming and eventually becoming a real crack and the potential results of that crack are just to high. Front suspension failure at speed = big crash.

It wasn't going to be used again. I had already swapped the hubs over. It was to see if it was ever going to come out.

[geeves]

often a stubborn joint will crack if you wind the separator up to a good pressure then a good solid sharp tap on the side of the casting. Hit it like you intend to smash it.
I did have a joint on the wizard though that endured every trick I knew. The joint was shot so extreme measures were acceptable Large cold chissel wedged between the joint and housing through the rubber boot. Even that got to the point that I was thinking the next hit will either permanently joint the chisel to the drag link or pop. It chose pop (or rather very loud bang). Turned out there was an extra sleeve inside the joint which was preventing all my separators getting onto the joint properly. Ive since modified my separator to get past this next time.

[Downhillnz]

I even went to great lengths of driving around with the nut on the ball joint loosened off and another nut behind it. And drove it around like that for 3 months. I of course had the tools in the truck to change it and a brand new one in the event it actually fell out.

[geeves]

that never works. All the forces prevent it by design

[MrRevhead]

My last one's I cut off and pressed the tapers out....
As Geeves said, your neighbors often learn some new swear words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKmeB8R ... ture=share