A mechanic friend who is very knowledgeable with Hondas and works at his father's shop which has been around for like 50+ years, told me that the easiest way to break the outer tie rod ball joint loose is to hit the part of the knuckle where the ball joint goes through, like rapid hammer hits or vibrations or whatever.

So I bought an air hammer last night, 4000 beats per minute. It's pretty much like a miniature jack hammer. I'm thinking that if I could find a round chisel with a broad, flat tip (rather than a pointed tip), that would be best as far as not chipping the actual metal or otherwise damaging the metal knuckle. I'm thinking that I will remove the cotter pin, loosen the castle nut (but not remove it), and then hit that part of the knuckle right below the ball joint boot with a few blows from the air hammer.

Anybody ever tried a method like this? I'm trying to figure out a relatively painless method to get these ball joints loose that won't damage the ball joint boot (like the quick and easy ratchet-handle method for getting the lower knuckle ball joint out of the LCA). Thoughts?

 

sometimes this works if your tie rods were torqued down correctly and the boots are not torn and its not rusted in. It should work i have done it a couple times but i also use a pitman puller more. Just dont miss.

 

sledge hammer works fine.

air hammer works great too.

http://crxcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?t=5983

 

have to log in to view that link ^^^

Yeah my tie rods were last bolted in just a few months ago after getting the front lower ball joints and wheel bearings replaced in the knuckles, and I definitely torqued them correctly.

I just picked up a pin punch for the air hammer that has a .4" dia. round flat end on it, so it shouldn't gouge or punch dimples in the metal knuckle portion.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1912773

 

got 'em out, air hammer worked like a charm

 

If i dont have an air hammer, I like using two 3lb mini sledges, one directly on the opposite side of where I'm striking. The knuckle has some movement to it; this way most of the energy from the seldge blow goes directly into the taper to loosen the tie rod end.