# stuck ball joint



## fenix3069 (Oct 19, 2004)

i recently curbed my poor car and broke a tansion rod and mangled a control arm so im trying to fix it but i cant seem to pop the ball joint off the steering knuckle. im guessing the bolt might b a little bent so it wont come off easily i have the ball joint fork and everything but it just doesnt want to come off. ive tried coaxing it with a hammer, heating it and just good old fashoined cursing at it but it wont come free. does anyone have any suggestions?


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## nismo200sx16 (Aug 25, 2004)

get a bigger hammer! just take off the bolt and hit it as hard as you can. then just get a new one. maby you can get some kind of a puller at auto zone.


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## fenix3069 (Oct 19, 2004)

trust me ive hit it pretty hard and long. its just not working its on there good i need some better advice then that


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## afroeman (Oct 12, 2004)

My buddy ben curbed his 240 about 2 months ago and I think we had the same problem. Our problem was not the bolt being bent but it was the actual casing that the joint sits in had folded over a little bit, we just simply bent the thing all the way back, but I don't recommend that unless you have a parts car like we did with the parts to just completely replace the thing. Otherwise, I would recommend disassembling the whole piece if possible, and get it out from under the car, and then try to see what you can do with it. I'm not sure if that's possible in your situation because I'm not looking at it but if it is then do that. If it's not then the only thing I can think to do is to see if you can order replacement parts for it that won't be too expensive and then just tear the thing up until it comes out and then replace whatever you broke. That's all I can think of. Or take it to a mechanic where they can rape you :banhump: in order to fix it.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

fenix3069 said:


> i recently curbed my poor car and broke a tansion rod and mangled a control arm so im trying to fix it but i cant seem to pop the ball joint off the steering knuckle. im guessing the bolt might b a little bent so it wont come off easily i have the ball joint fork and everything but it just doesnt want to come off. ive tried coaxing it with a hammer, heating it and just good old fashoined cursing at it but it wont come free. does anyone have any suggestions?


Hold a large sledge hammer against the back side of the knuckle; strike the front side of the knuckle with a medium size sledge hammer several times which should loosen it.


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## JDM240Turbo (Jan 21, 2005)

fenix3069 said:


> ive tried coaxing it with a hammer, heating it and just good old fashoined cursing at it but it wont come free.


HAHA, just good old fasioned cursing at it. You're talking about the tie rod end right? Or is the ball joint different then the tie rod.


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## afroeman (Oct 12, 2004)

Yeah, cursing at it usually works for me. You must have quite a problem on your hands.


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## greenbean699 (Jan 18, 2004)

fenix3069 said:


> i recently curbed my poor car and broke a tansion rod and mangled a control arm so im trying to fix it but i cant seem to pop the ball joint off the steering knuckle. im guessing the bolt might b a little bent so it wont come off easily i have the ball joint fork and everything but it just doesnt want to come off. ive tried coaxing it with a hammer, heating it and just good old fashoined cursing at it but it wont come free. does anyone have any suggestions?


I have put all the weight of the car on the ball joint with a jack. Then put a torch on it and let it heat up till it pops out. Worked for me maybe you can have some luck like i did.


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