got a '01 LS. doing the strut/spring job to lower it and ran into a popular problem. however, i cant separate the ball joint from the upper control arm despite trying to use a ball joint separater (fork version) and other suggestions in the search. does anybody know a method of separating the ball joint and uca that haven't been mentioned?

 

The ball joints on the stock upper control arm do not seperate, only the lower ones do.

 

want to know also

 

you removed the nut, and the plate that protects the nut, right?

they do seperate from each other. i did it when i took my knuckles out to replace the lower balljoints.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MugenDude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you removed the nut, and the plate that protects the nut, right?

they do seperate from each other. i did it when i took my knuckles out to replace the lower balljoints.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he is talking about the uper ball joint wich is not seperatable.
now you are in a bigger mess cause you have to buy a new one
since you tried to separate it....

 

Why are you messing with the ball joints to install struts/springs? You should'nt have to do that. the shock/strut assembly can be taken off the car in one piece without touching any of the ball joints.

 

i didn't specify...and it was early. im putting in a camber kit. the ball joint of the upper arm that connects to the ____ (cant remember what its called). have the castle nut off, but the thing wont separate.

 

Are you talking about the ball joints separating from the knuckle, or from the actual control arm itself? They have to separate from the knuckle, how else would you install Skunk2 upper control arms?

 

If your camber kit is the skunk2 type (replaces the upper a-arm including ball joint), you need to either get a puller which would latch onto the area just below the upper ball joint and then the bolt attached to the puller would push out the ball joint bolt, see pic below, i would reccommend a puller that has one piece fork like the one shown. Or, since you won't be using that upper a-arm afterward, you can just hammer it out from the bottom. They're pressed in pretty tight so it'll be a pain to hammer out. If you have the camber kit that looks like just the ball joint section, you would do the same thing as above and then replace the ball joint. If you have the ingalls style camber kit, don't mess with the ball joint. Just remove the factory camber joints and replace them with the new camber kit.
http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/s...65/.f

 

what you really need to do is hit the area around where the stud sticks through. This will break the ball joint loose. I have to do this all the time at work to pull axles. If you use a spreader or some other tool you will most likely damage the boot. Hitting it with a good heavy hammer is the best way to do it.

 

stick the fork btw the boot and arm that has ur hubs on it and hammer it in there till it pops it'll pop trust me

 

i have the dropzone camber kit. haven't tried the ball joint puller, but i did try to use the fork separater and it didn't budge. before, i could just hammer on it a little to loosen, then separate it. but the bolt will not separate

 

i did this on sunday but was installing the skunk2 camber kit..... you're having trouble separating the balljoint from the knuckle right? thats where i had problems too.....i just beat the crap outta it w/a chisle and a brass hammer and it eventually came apart!
goodluck!

 

thats the same as i did. does the knuckle separate from the rotor? maybe it would be easier to work on it if it were out of the car....

 

maybe you cant seperate the castle nut because you didnt take out the cotter pin!

 

Take out the codder pin then remove the castle nut. The ball joint stud will be sticking out of the hole in the top of the knuckle. Hit the area at the top of the knuckle where the stud goes through with a nice steel hammer. It will break loose.

 

http://www.team-integra.net/se...D=783 ...that may help you a little also!

 

obviously nobody pays attention. i did everything you all are suggesting but it doesnt work. the cotter pin is out w/castle nut. i've banged and beat the **** out of it. then i used one of those ball joint separaters that are shaped like a fork-didn't work.

 

sorry, we tried to help....i dont know what else to tell you, its not easy......i just kept beating on mine w/a brass hammer and a chisle and it eventually came loose......i also soaked mine in PB blaster so you may want to try that.....maybe try heat?

 

I've got a small gear-puller that fits on, works pretty good. It's not exactly this, I didn't get it at HF, but it looks pretty much like this one...
http://www.harborfreight.com/c...45977

 

i didnt think of that!.....they sell those gear pullers at advance auto parts FYI if you want to try that approach!

 

Those gear pullers have a tendency to slip.
Have you tried hammering the balljoint separator in and stomping on the
end of the separator? That worked for me once.

 

What about an actual ball joint seperator, not the fork version.



See the one on the left bottom and the one next to it? Ever tried using that?

 

the top right-most one looks the most like the one shown in the Helms manual.

 

The fork works Just wedge it between the UCA and the knuckle. Hammer it in a little so it'll stay by itself, and gave it a whack with the hammer. Worked perfect for me.