Siezed balljoint help

[StescoG66]

See photos attached. Trying to remove this from the strut and I simply can't shift it. Tried balljoint splitter, no go, soaked in WD40 and beat the crap out it with a mallet - no joy. Jacked it underneath the stump with trolley jack and iron bar then lumped it with mallet - no joy. In a pique of rage I angle ground the top off thinking I may have a chance - no joy. Now truly stumped. Any suggestions PH masses?

Edited by StescoG66 on Thursday 26th September 21:46

[DrDeAtH]

1. WD40. Is the wrong stuff to use. You wanted Plugas, it is a releasing oil.
2. Get 2 hammers. Place 1 either side of the steering arm, then simultaneously hit them together. This will shock the casting, allowing the remaining part of the balljoint to release. It may take a few hits. You can do it with claw hammers, but club hammers would be best.

[mudster]

Try the above trick with 2 hammers first, but you could also drill the pin slightly smaller then the small end of the taper. This should release the pressure on the taper. Centre punch the tapered pin and start with a small drill and get bigger.

[DrDeAtH]

Brute force will win this one. The balljoint pin will be hardened steel, so will require cobalt drill bits and lubrication.

[cinquecento]

Could you got remove the strut and take it to a hydraulic press and press the stud out?

[buzzer]

as above, two hammer trick. geta big lump hammer, hold it one side of the arm while you whack the other side with a 2LB hammer...

[buzzer]

as above, two hammer trick. geta big lump hammer, hold it one side of the arm while you whack the other side with a 2LB hammer...

[mygoldfishbowl]

If the two hammer trick doesn't work...

One of these will.

[ch427]

Lots of heat

[paintman]

If all of the above fail you may well have to resort to drilling progressively larger holes in the remains until it either falls out or you can slip a junior hacksaw blade through the hole & cut a slot in the remains which will let it fall out. Just be careful you don't do too much damage to the hole the pin fits into.
You have exactly the same issue I had on a Mercedes Sprinter.

ETA. I've said it time & time again, WD40 is a waste of time as a penetrating/release fluid. Brilliant as a water dispersant though, I use a lot on my outboard & the boat trailer. Use Plusgas, Loctite's 'Freeze and release' and diesel is actually pretty good if you have nothing else.

Edited by paintman on Friday 27th September 20:33

[mudster]

Blowtorch to heat up the surrounding metal and hit the pin upwards if you can get a decent hammer swing.

[Fonzey]

I was amazed when the "two hammer" trick worked for me. I had a balljoint that looked to be welded in place - no amount of plusgas or hitting the top of it would work.

I did some googling, went back outside and just started smacking the knuckle around... within seconds the balljoint just fell out! Couldn't believe it.

[ridds]

Jack from underneath, heat to the outer and hit with a hammer would be my route.

Heat does wonderful things on stuck joints like this.

[CaptiV8ted]

If you can still get a ball joint splitter (type as pictured in a previous post) to attach securely, wind on a decent amount of pressure and then apply some heat. This combination worked for me on an incredibly hard to shift ball joint on a 5 series BM.

[Mr2Mike]

mygoldfishbowl said:

If the two hammer trick doesn't work...

One of these will.

I doubt it, I managed to severely bend my Sykes Pickavant version trying to remove a seized balljoint.

Heat and a couple of large hammers is undoubtedly the answer in this case. Plug Gas vs WD40 is utterly irrelevant in this situation, neither will help.

[T1pper]

Big hammer, job done!

[StescoG66]

Nope. Tried jacking underneath it and giving it a thump from either side. Zilch, nada, fk all. It's not giving up without a fight this one . . . .

[v46m4n]

get it hot!.

[DrDeAtH]

StescoG66 said:

Nope. Tried jacking underneath it and giving it a thump from either side. Zilch, nada, fk all. It's not giving up without a fight this one . . . .

You don't need to jack underneath it. Just belt it HARD a few times





This is such a saga now......

[buzzer]

DrDeAtH said:

StescoG66 said:

Nope. Tried jacking underneath it and giving it a thump from either side. Zilch, nada, fk all. It's not giving up without a fight this one . . . .

You don't need to jack underneath it. Just belt it HARD a few times





This is such a saga now......

yep, HARD is the key.... Big lump hammer one side, perhaps held by someone else... Then hit it HARD with a 2LB hammer.

Been at this 45 years and that method has never failed me. The sykes tool above is a useless piece of kit...

Hard - Harder - Harder!!!

I hope he tells us when its off....