WHAT is the BEST "ball joint separator" to use on the LCA-lower ball joint stud?

[Gerald Morris]

Esteemed Moparians,

This afternoon I rest from hot, frustrated toil with the spare left LCA I have in a SUDDEN NECESSITY to replace the front suspension on Gertrude, discovered this past Tuesday when replacing the front left tire. I have PLENTY AUDIBLE SLACK in my steering hardware, which came up rather suddenly in the past couple weeks. I'm not too surprised, given that this car has all the factory original parts on it, but the car has become dangerous at any speed I fear.

So, having all the parts this time, and a much improved panoply of tools, I commence with preparing the left LCA, both upper control arms and the sway bar before I park Gertrude for the surgery. I have ONE putative ball joint separator obtained from AutoZone, which I'm now attempting to press the ball joint stud out with, as can be seen here:

Left LCA w "OEM" brand ball joint separator at moderate torque and pressure.

I BOUGHT an "OTC" separator, their much sold 6297 from Amazon, ALWAYS A MISTAKE, and got some cheap piece of sino-slop SO POORLY MADE IT LACKED THE ESSENTIAL NUMERIC STAMP OF 513243 on the forked, threaded portion of the tool. This was BAD, and Amazon happily agreed to refund my $ when I called this **** out. I will follow up with some exposure of the slime vendor that perpetrated this Bait and Switch job too. I then ordered a far more likely, older tool of this sort from an eBay vendor. I tried the first only because BeZoZon offered a 1 day turnaround, but it turned out I dared not use the potmetal, stapled into an OTC container which they shipped.

I don't have terribly high confidence in the DESIGN of the 6297, or all the clones spawned by it. So, I'm asking you Elder Moparians if a tool more like that portrayed in the FSM is the ONLY sort I should use for this purpose, or have any of you used these lever type separators on the LCA-lower ball joint studs with good, consistent results? I ask now because while I can afford a bit to experiment with THIS left LCA, I have ONLY ONE RIGHT LCA, namely, that which is on the car. The one from Mathilda got hopelessly BENT, and has been scrapped accordingly.

 

[volksworld]

what you're showing in your pic should work just fine...if you've tightened it with as much muscle as you have available (with an 18 inch breaker bar) and it still hasn't popped off, give the side of the spindle where the stud goes through a helluva smack with the biggest hammer you have...the extra shock will help to pop the taper apart...most of the time we got those apart with just the hammer, but I was a lot younger, stronger and had better aim then ...the usual "pickle fork" and BFH works too but the rubber dust boot will be destroyed so I hate them

 

[Big_John]

a helluva smack with the biggest hammer you have

Better yet, take the next biggest hammer you have and hold it against the other side while you hit it.

The idea is that the hammer blow distorts the tapered hole for an instant, just long enough to make it pop.

 

[MoPar~Man]

For me it's the pitman arm (removal from steering gear) that is the worst. These other joints are normally pretty easy. If supporting the LCA and whacking the ball joint shaft with a 5 lb hammer isin't an option, then wrench down your tool and take out a camping or plumbing torch and heat the outer ring on the LCA. It will pop after 30 seconds max.

Where are you getting a new ball joint from? The usual suspect?

 

[Gerald Morris]

For me it's the pitman arm (removal from steering gear) that is the worst. These other joints are normally pretty easy. If supporting the LCA and whacking the ball joint shaft with a 5 lb hammer isin't an option, then wrench down your tool and take out a camping or plumbing torch and heat the outer ring on the LCA. It will pop after 30 seconds max.

Where are you getting a new ball joint from? The usual suspect?

One lower ball joint is from Rare Parts, the other is a nice 1970s TRW. Both brand new, as far as use goes. Mind you, these cheap ones I got off that Mormon in Utah actually did quite well, and i regret having buggered this one earlier, necessitating its removal.

Yah, I reckon BenZomatic is going to help out w this job now. Just got a revised ETA on the old (USA made) OTC I ordered, not 'til the 21st. DAMNATION!

Oddly enough, the pittman arm proved quite easy for me on Mathilda. I have a good puller for that.

Yes, I actually DID whack that damned stud w a 5# sledge while it was still on old Mathilda! THAT was what buggered it. I even cut the threaded portion of the stud down, to get a better application of the moment arm of the tool. Yes, the BenZomatic + some parafin WILL be the Next Step. I'll also continue my search for a press like the one specified in the FSM. The direct application of force always is preferable to a levered one.

Will post folks.....

 

[Gerald Morris]

....plumbing torch and heat the outer ring on the LCA. It will pop after 30 seconds max.

You NAILED IT HOSS! 30 seconds and POP! Clunk, it came out right nice.

NOW We know, the BEST TOOL for this job is the BernZomatic propane torch!!!

Good thing too, as my Next Step would have been to try my pickle fork w my 20 ton press.... I figured out how to use the fork as part of the support surface for that attempt. Not today though, it's getting late. I kept this lower ball joint, in case of some emergency. Damn things come dear these daze.....

 

[Gerald Morris]

I reckon I'll do a proper thread on this job, when it's done. Stay Tuned!

 

[Gerald Morris]

Little CODA for this: I cleaned up the LCA yesterday, used my custom drill sanding drum to clean off any scoring inside the LCA bushing receptacle, pressed in a nice new McQuay-Norris bushing obtained from Rare Parts, and will later bathe the assembly in Dawn dish detergent before priming and painting. I made sure to buff the outer surface of the bushing before popping it under my 80+ yr old 20 ton press, and the job was done in under 3 minutes, sans strain. Sure is NICE to use tools made BEFORE or during the time our cars were made!

I hope to pry myself loose from my 3 brats this evening long enough to primer that LCA. That should close this little Chapter, which will be the Introduction to the Morris Front Suspension 2025 thread, TBA....

 

[volaredon]

Forget the bernz o matic I don't use those coffee.warmers, other than for sweating copper pipe
I use the bigger version with 2 tanks and hoses
But if the BFH doesn't pop them loose I just get the conventional old pickle fork and use the BFH plus that... I can't remember the last one that these tools didn't work on. Nor can I remember the last one I had to heat to get loose. I still do tons of suspension work at work...
I'm having a garage sale this weekend, as soon as I finish this craziness I have an 83 D250 that's down to a bare frame just back from blast and prime (I'm gonna paint that). for which I have brand new MOOG, EVERYTHING THEY MAKE FOE IT, all 20+ year old stock, all USA made ready to swap out...

 

[Old man Utah]

I've only ever got those out pretty quickly by using 2 heavy hammers , one in each hand to smack each side of the collar at exactly the same time. Always works! Shocks it out. Usually first time but maybe second time . Hit it hard.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Wellll, all I see here amounts to Bigger Hammer. I have 20 something hammers, and an oxy bottle I could feed an ethyne or propane flame with if higher temperatures are warranted. Given the 30 seconds it took to heat the LCA stud collar enough to release its grip on the lower ball joint stud, using an unaugmented propane torch, I can happily abide with that, for now and as many decades as I have left to abide in.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Forget the bernz o matic I don't use those coffee.warmers, other than for sweating copper pipe
I use the bigger version with 2 tanks and hoses
But if the BFH doesn't pop them loose I just get the conventional old pickle fork and use the BFH plus that... I can't remember the last one that these tools didn't work on. Nor can I remember the last one I had to heat to get loose. I still do tons of suspension work at work...
I'm having a garage sale this weekend, as soon as I finish this craziness I have an 83 D250 that's down to a bare frame just back from blast and prime (I'm gonna paint that). for which I have brand new MOOG, EVERYTHING THEY MAKE FOE IT, all 20+ year old stock, all USA made ready to swap out...

Yes, for any steel component, I use only pre-NAFTA American steel, if I can get it. That Rare Parts lower ball joint is the sole exception in the parts I acquired for this job, and I will watch it carefully once its in use.

I have 2 pickle forks, one an old Snap-on, the other not, and I used them January 2018, having naught better then, but the effort in using them I prefer to avoid. This time, I have.

Truth be told, the parts I got from that Mormon worked surprisingly well, though I prefer NOT to risk the lives of my Beloved to questionable stuff like that. I might well ditch one of the old upper control arms I have also, seeing how much metal has been destroyed by rust from decades before I got it. I don't need it now, having another good one which never suffered CaCl corrosion.

Thus far, removing the old upper bushings went absurdly easy. I copped a good tool for that little task, which does considerably better than the large sockets and bolt I used 7.4 yrs ago. I expect installing the new ones will prove easier yet, after I paint those uppers well. Thus far, that work has been the most time consuming, removing all the old caliche, asphalt, motor oils and rust, the latter near non-existent on the driver side extra, but too abundant once I stripped off some black crap from the other. Seeing ads for supposed "rust remover" primers, I suspect the previous owner tried it, and while apparent rust blackens and hardens some, the basic problem remains. I don't recommend such here.

Almost time to start a proper thread on replacing the entire front suspension....

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

Amateur's... Air Hammer & Picklefork works like a charm on the stubborn ones.

.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Amateur's... Air Hammer & Picklefork works like a charm on the stubborn ones.

I DID THINK of this option, but this is really just the B*FH of BFHs basically. Since an air hammer is less exorbitant than a pair of brand new tube type lower control arms, it merits some consideration I reckon.

*Biggest