I havent been here for a LONG time since the only Honda I deal with on a regualr basis is my motorcycle. Anyways My truck broke down so i have been driving my 1989 Accord LXI as my daily driver. The car runs GREAT except the other day the ball joint on the rear upper arm broke in half. I already ordered the new arm and ball joing but I cant get the ball joing out of the old one so I can install the new. The bolt on the ball joint is so old and rusted from 17 some years of exposure to Ohio winters and weather that the bolt is pretty much non-existant. Ball joint pullers will not work either since half of the ball joint is gone. Anyone have any ideas?


Here is the view of the damage.



Here is what the control arm SHOULD look like if it hadnt broke.



Here is what it actually looks like



Here is the socket that is warped. I am replacing this whole arm assembly and balljoint so this part doesnt matter anyways.



Okay, here is the nightmare piece. The bolt is so rusted I can't do **** with it. I need ideas on how to get it out so I can bolt the new one in.



Here is the part I ordered, yes I rotated it to show how it will actually line up.



Here is a diagram of everything.

 

that looks like it's going to be a PITA.

Best bet, if you care to remove the entire part from the car you could take it to a shop and they should be able to press it out.

Not sure if it would work but... if you can get a real good grip on the back side of that boss, you could try using a 3-jaw gear puller to push the bolt back through. But it could slip which would make it hard.

You could also try using a large "c" clamp. Put a deep socket or something on the side that the bolt needs to be pushed into and then try to sorta press the bolt/shaft into the socket. Sorta like a ball joint press tool you can rent at AutoZone and that. Make sure that "c" clamp is beefy though.

If all else fails, put a nut on the end to protect the threads (not because of reuse but so it'll still go though the hole) and beat on the bolt/nut to try and pop it out. I would only resort to that if everything else has failed though.

I kinda like the idea of the "c" clamp with a socket so I think I would try that first.

 

Yeah I was thinking about the c clamp idea too. There is no way for me to thread any type of nut on it because the threads are so effed up that when I first looked at it I wasnt sure if it even used to be a bolt or if it was actually pressed in from both sides. In the second picture down the piece on the botton side of the arm on the right is the bolt. 2 of the pics arent working but they have a better view of it.

I was also thinking about maybe cutting the ball off and trying to press it out of the other side that way I wont have to deal with the bolt.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trail_boss2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was also thinking about maybe cutting the ball off and trying to press it out of the other side that way I wont have to deal with the bolt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, don't do that. That thread is actually only long enough for the nut, the other part is a tapered shaft. The small end of the taper is at the thread and the large end of the taper is near the ball. If you cut off the ball and try pessing it the other way you'll never get it because you'll be working against the taper. You must press it from the threaded und towards the end with the ball.

If you look at the picture of the new control arm you'll see the threaded parts and then the boot. Under that boot is the tapered shaft. When the boot compresses, the tapered shaft snugs into the matching tapered hole in the boss (end of the knuckle).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trail_boss2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is no way for me to thread any type of nut on it because the threads are so effed up that when I first looked at it I wasnt sure if it even used to be a bolt or if it was actually pressed in from both sides. In the second picture down the piece on the botton side of the arm on the right is the bolt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How much is actually sticking up from the surface? Enough to push on with the c clamp? Is that threaded part bent at all? If it is, that could make things more difficult.

 

man i remember when that happend on my first accord, looks like it's about the same year as yours. I didn't know it had broke till the smoke form it rubbing on the tire told me something was up (I lived on a gravel country road at the time). If I remember right I think we used your C-clamp idea. Wasn't too hard and didn't talk all that long to fix.

 

No its not bent or anything. The main problem is that where there used to be threads they are now gone and its like a cone shape. Ill take better pics with I get home. I was thinking about grinding down where the threads used to be so it will fit through the hole cleanly but still leave enough for me to push through with the clamp.

 

yeah, that may be what you'll need to do. You're going to want a nice surface for the clamp to site on and not slip off of and I'm guessing if the threads are now cone shaped it may be a bit difficult to get the clamp to stay on there while you wrench down on it.

 

Yeah im thinking that the end on the clamp that I have will be to big to fit in there anyways, Ill probably end up cutting a piece of solid round stock that will fit in the diameter of the hole so I can have a good sized surface to put it on. Ill update tonight after work when I try it. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

yes, deffinately post back with your results for future reference incase other people have this problem.

 

Air hammer, liquid penetrator, c-clamp, 125cc motorcycle piston FTW!!!

I took the liquid penetrator and soaked the entire part.

Took the air hammer and knocked off the rust around the threads. (I cant believe there was actually threads under all that rust!)

Took the piston, put it bottom down over the ball to use as a solid base for the clamp.

Clamped the part clean out in about 10 seconds.

I was actually kinda surprised that I actually found a use for the piston I had laying around. I ride motocross so I have tons of old 2-stroke parts around since I ride 4 strokes now and the piston came in handy. It fit the diameter perfectly.

Thanks again everyone, ill be sure to come back here for my honda needs.

 

Glad to hear you got it removed with minimal trouble.

Also, thanks for posting back your results, this may come in handy for some other unfortunate person this happens to.