Alright, well the the other day I was using my brothers car.. Which is a 95 civic dx 4dr... I was taking my friend home, when we both noticed that every time I turn the steering wheel to the left, it would make a horrible scrapping or metal rubbing noise.. I pulled over, and looked under the car and checked everywhere, nothing was leaking or abnormal looking.. So while the car was still at a stop, I looked under the car and told him to start turning the steering wheel, left to right to see if I can spot the noise.. But still could not find nothing. So anyways, I proceed to drive and the noise comes back, and I noticed whenever I turned to the right, the noise would not be there, and when I turn to the left, the noise of the scrapping metal came back. I ignored the noise, and went to drop my friend off home.. When I took a left onto his street, the car basically came flat on its face on the ground! I came out the car, and noticed the lower ball joint broke off the passenger side! I got a tow truck and got it towed back to my house, I did some work today and came and noticed the lower ball joint that connects onto the front lower control arm is seized right in there.. I torched it for a good 15 mins and started to bang on it to pop it out.. I had no luck at all. Now im completely stuck, and need advice what I should do.. My thought were to just start dremeling it out and then redrill the hole.. Any other ideas? Here are some horrible dark pictures for now..


I cut the ball off.. Now it looks like i have to drill..

 

Did you try to use a pickle fork? The first picture looks like a trailer hitch. LOL

 

Whats a pickle fork, and no I did not.. And yeah it does huh lmao..

 

is that really a lower ball joint? why does it look like a tow hook or something from a trailer? well I am having the same problem with mines.. except the bushings tore on the driver side and now when I make a right turn, it sounds like its rubbing too.. hopefully my car wont fall flat on its face like yours..

when you drove around, did you steering wheel shake alot? especially on high speeds like on the freeway?

 

A pickle fork can be found at auto parts stores. They are called ball joint separator tools. You can sometime borrow tools from parts stores. I used them as a last resort since they may tear the grease boots.

 

yes it is a ball joint my friend, the bushing on it got burned off while i was torching it, so now it looks like a damn tow hook haha. But when i was on the freeway before this had happened, my steering wheel did start to shake slighty and you can barely hear the rubbing noise.. If you noticed your ball joint being damaged, replace that as soon as possible! The last thing you want is your whole car falling on its face like mine and more parts break and may even risk your own life and others peoples life.
I may have to look into that.. But that will take out my seized ball joint?

 

The ball joint separator will separate the lower control arm from the steering knuckle. You will need to get another kit to remove the ball joint from the knuckle. I just did this over the weekend. I rented the ball joint removal/installation kit from Auotzone. I also got the supplemental kit for Hondas.

Is it possible to get better pics?

 

wow the actual cup that the ball sits in just split off. you could try this

http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/pa80.jpg

works for me. Other wise take the arm off and place it on top of a large vice and hammer the remaining joint out. I put it on the ground and step on it then smash it with a hammer about 20 times.

 

yeh this happens in states that theres no inspection.. and sometime with states that do..its pretty fun..but but get yourself a BFH (big freaking hammer) and beat on the lower control arm and the ball joint will pop out.. to make it a lil easier u can heat the control arm..make sure when putting the new ball joint in you use a ball joint press or u will prob screw the new 1 up and it will be stiff and make some noise

 

oo yeh when u get the cup out of the spindle..dont forget to get the snap ring out before u bang out the ball joint cup

 

Yep. And just in case people think the way to check a ball joint is by looking for ripped boots, its not. You have to pry between the LCA and the knuckle, with a large pry bar, if theres any play the ball joint is bad. I've seen good ball joints with bad boots, and i've seen bad ball joints with good boots.

 

Pickle fork might be the way to go in this case
It's a wedge shaped two prong fork that will slide between your control arm and the ball part of your ball joint. You then use a hammer to wedge that fork in there.

http://www.ehow.com/video_2327952_us...ove-upper.html

 

Updated pictures.. Better quality now..

 

You should remove the lower control arm and pound it out. Or you can try to use a pitman arm remover tool that alphalanos had earlier mentioned. The piece that is leftover should press out from the bottom.

 

I really dont think it can be pressed out.. Its like really seized in there.. My last idea I can think of is drill it out..

 

The ball joint should press out from the bottom. It looks like you are hitting from the top.

 

heat the lca and then also hit the lca on the side and it should knock the ball joint loose.

if u have to drill it..use a small bit and hit the lca some more because the lca hole where the ball joint goes is almost in a v shape and u dont wana mess that up or u wont be useing that lca again

 

thanks for the tip!