All the fun ways to remove rusty ball joints.

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

I had a VERY long day today trying to take the ball joint off my ford flex that was inside the knuckle facing up.
Now separating/pushing it out wasnt a problem.
The problem was that the nut kept spinning with the stud which was rusted shut. No way to get a socket in there to hammer it on.
So what are suggestions for next time? Air hammer with a v notch chisel just to rip the bolt off?
Is there a smaller cut off tool that is maneuverable that I can use to cut the nut off?
I tried nut splitter but it stripped out.

 

[alcyon]

I had a VERY long day today trying to take the ball joint off my ford flex that was inside the knuckle facing up.
Now separating/pushing it out wasnt a problem.
The problem was that the nut kept spinning with the stud which was rusted shut. No way to get a socket in there to hammer it on.
So what are suggestions for next time? Air hammer with a v notch chisel just to rip the bolt off?
Is there a smaller cut off tool that is maneuverable that I can use to cut the nut off?
I tried nut splitter but it stripped out.

I think those dremel tool for rc cars would fit. I used one those to cut a stuck screwdriver.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

I dont think that the disc is big enough for the substantial nut

 

[alcyon]

I dont think that the disc is big enough for the substantial nut

You can cut that nut, little by little, I cut a diff carrier bearing with a hand dremel, and you know how hard those bearing shell can be. You might need to use 2 or 3 cutting bits in the process but it will do the job.

 

[FowVay]

Here's what the book says:

It appears that there is a hexagonal dimension at the tip of the ball joint to hold while removing the nut. For next time possibly try holding that with a 1/4" socket and try the crow's foot wrench technique.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

There was no hexagonal dimension. There was only a rusty round knob becasue road salt.

 

[JimPghPA]

I had a VERY long day today trying to take the ball joint off my ford flex that was inside the knuckle facing up.
Now separating/pushing it out wasnt a problem.
The problem was that the nut kept spinning with the stud which was rusted shut. No way to get a socket in there to hammer it on.
So what are suggestions for next time? Air hammer with a v notch chisel just to rip the bolt off?
Is there a smaller cut off tool that is maneuverable that I can use to cut the nut off?
I tried nut splitter but it stripped out.

I once used my dremel with a small round ball bur tip to make cuts in the sides of a totally rounded off lug nut. It used up most of the life of that round ball cutting tip, but amazingly both the wheel rim and the stud did not have a scratch on them. And that lug nut sat in a decent valley, especially on the tapered part all the way in.

Those round ball bur tips can punch well above their weight. It was a very small round ball. Maybe 3/32 or so.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Any one here has experience with air hammer chisel points

 

[SC Maintenance]

Are you trying to save the ball joint?

If not - sawzall?

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Sawzall blades when with the best tooth count and metallurgy get chewed up by the very very hard stud. Also not enough space for a sawzall.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Taking the entire arm and knuckle off the car so you can get it on a bench may be overkill but ultimately 'easier'.

 

[brages]

Jack up the arm a bit and wedge something in between the arm and knuckle to put some extra load on the ball joint. Impact if you can get the access.

 

[Hohn]

Any one here has experience with air hammer chisel points

I do.

There are two separate challenges here. One is removing the rust-siezed nut from the stud. The other is physically separating the BJ once the nut is off.

A couple approaches come to mind.

1) Use a good locking plier (Eagle Grip) and you can grab the rusted end that used to be a hex.
2) Cut the whole stud off. A tool like this is super useful:

For air hammers, you want a cutting chisel like this:

If the chisel is softer than the stud, you're using a cheap chisel. Get a better one. McMaster only carries good ones.

SOme cheap air hammers might not have enough punch for the job. The HF Chief hammer is super powerful but nearly uncontrollable with it's on/off trigger that allows almost no modulation. I have the Aircat 5250 as well as the Chief, and the Chief is now backup only, the aircat is both more powerful as well as far more controllable. It's the best air hammer I've ever used, more like a large CP 7x rivet gun.

If all else fails and you're just desperate or have no room at all, use a file to cut a stress notch and just break the stud off with a ball pein hammer.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Thank you very much.
Also do you know if there is a battarey operated version of that gridner/cutter?

 

[Hohn]

Thank you very much.
Also do you know if there is a battarey operated version of that gridner/cutter?

Obviously that's the air version, but I can't say I've ever seen a similar tool in anything but pneumatic.

The battery and electric cutoffs all seem to look like tiny circular saws and will NOT fit many places.

Another option might be a big electric die grinder with a carbide burr. I had to do that when I broke a bolt extractor in my lower control arm on my GX. Hogged it out with carbide, filled the hole with weld metal, then drilled and re-tapped.


An electric die grinder is basically like an industrial Dremel, only it can do things a Dremel would take years (and lots of $$ in consumable tooling) to do. Highest recommendation to the Makita SJS, this thing is incredibly smooth and powerful. It was a game changer for me.

 

[JDenyer232]

Slap a rectangular metal blade into a multitool and go to town.