Can't get my 93 civic lower control arm off the bolt .!! ! I have tried every bit of leverage I can think of! !

Any thoughts

 

So you are talking about disconnecting your control arm at the lower ball joint? Get somebody to either pull up on the spindle or push down on the lower control arm while you wack at the end of the lower control arm. Enough hard hits should jolt it loose.

 

you need a pickle fork or a bigger hammer.

 

yesir I have tried everything , ya a bigger hammer might do it

 

I agree pickle fork and a few hard hits with a hammer should pop it loose.

 

Put the nut back on, or if you have a beefier nut better(so you don't mess up the ridges where the cotter pin slides thro) ,thread it onto the bolt only like 6 turns and go to town on it with an impact hammer or a big ole' hammer.

 

mspaint for you thats what the nut is going to look like.

 

Your best bet, short of a ball joint separator (which I don't particularly care for as they tend to rip the ball joint boot) is to have an assistant pry between the knuckle and LCA while you hit the side of the LCA where the ball joint stud goes through.

 

Air hammer as a last resort.

 

Try this. Make sure the socket just barely fits in the gap.

 

Looks like his ball joint boot is already ripped. They make ball joint seperators that hook onto the the lca and a bolt that you turn pushes the ball joint up and out of the hole.

aka this:

 

i put the lca fork in between and put the wheel/tire on the hub and pushed down on it....works every time

 

great no special tools diy ideas, thanks a lot

 

this works every time for me. even after my friend broke a ball joint separator fork from autozone. just jack it up till you can shove something like a socket in the gap(i usually use this piece of a broken breaker bar i have). then lower the jack and kick the spindle downwards and it should pop loose

 

Geeeeezzzz guys, a BFH is not the answer.
You need this from ebay.




http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-B...ayphotohosting

 

You're beating it on BOTH sides, right?

There is a little raised area on either side of my LCA - that's where you hit it!

I spray everything with penetrating oil - smack it on one side for a while - then smack the other side a few times. After of couple of times of switching back and forth, it always pops out - no prying required!

Truthfully, I've NEVER had it pop out by just smacking it on one side or the other - you gotta hit it on both sides. At least, that's been my experience!

BTW, that type of seperator in the post above is GREAT! And, a smoookin' price too. I might have to pick up one of those...

 

i just hit it with a rubber hammer and loosened it free. You might want to also srpay it down and swivel the suspension up and down. it sounds like something is stuck in the position its in.

 

jack up the car and prss down on the arm. thats what i did. worked for me

 

Thats not his ball joint, I recognize those pics, they're from B18C5-EH2s axle replacement write up.

 

[QUOTE=itsmejto;36527941]
You need this from ebay.


x2. Full writeup on using this tool at http://honda.lioness.googlepages.com...novation#bjsep

Do not forget to remove, flip, and install the castle nut before using the tool. This keeps the bolt from collapsing, due to its lesser integrity caused by the cotter pin hole.

 

In the end I tried everything but the separater..then I took the whole hub/brake and moved it back and forth fairly hard so the bottom joint at the lower control arm was moving along with the threads in the arm anyways that and a big!!!! hammer and there u go POP!

 

LoL!

That's what I like about working on suspensions - nothing fragile about them!

Big hammer - big breaker bar - big pry bars - lotta muscle - and all is good...

 

Heh!

You notice the 55-gallon drum of Zep ID RED in the background?!?!?

 

touche!

 

Both are things I do. The wrench trick is great for that joint, the other I use for regular ball joints. Pickle forks are known to rip boots very easily, and a BFH is very easy to compress or bend threads. THAT saves you ZERO time.