the lower ball joint on my 97 civic hatch broke off today ... i have a ball joint separator and tried a sledge to get the remaining bolt out but it wont budge..

iv taken the lower control arm off so instead of hitting it from the ground up.. i can get a good whack at it but nothing its STUCK

i took the knuckle completely out and pressed in the new ball joint ..
but in the lower control arm the stud is still in there any ideas on how to get it out?


the axel was blown at the same time .. so had to replace that as well

 

sand it down and try bangin it out and if that doesnt work use a drill.

 

why not just buy a new lca?

 

cant afford it .. the new ball joint was $70 had to replace the axel so bought a new one for $109 . x-mas presents and rent took the rest of available cash till next pay..but need the car to get to school so need it fixed tomorrow

 

air hammer it upwards from the way it sits in that second pic. or you could press it out the same way.

 

whoa!! 70 bucks for a ball joint!! you got ripped off..they only go for 20/30 bucks at autozone.

 

paid for a premium ..

 

Re-drill it carefully if you know how. Just get the correct size bit.

 

junkyard!

 

will a driver front control arm from a 97 civic lx 4 door fit?

 

70 for 1 ball joint? You might as well went for 2, $140, but then skip that **** and get BuddyClub ball joints for $180. half the time, normal shop "premiums" aren't that premium. should have just got the 20-30 dollar ones.

 

Even OEM honda is what, $30? Anyway, have you tried this? Always works for me.

 

i have this one here
and yea 70 bucks was a little much but.. lifetime warranty on it and it was the only one in town and since everything is closed for new years i took it

i gave up on that bolt... going to my parts car a 97 civic 4 door .. hope that it come out nicely for me

 

Yeah 70 is alittle high,but holiday weekend and all.. Plus lifetime warrenty is always a good thing.

 

^^pitman arm puller
this has never failed me either

 

BTW, I strongly recommend you replace the lwr bj on the opposite side, you'll probably find it's ready to snap as well, if it's never been replaced.
had the same issue with my car a short time ago.

 

i went out to my parts car and pulled the knuckle axel and lower control arm and managed to get that ball joint out .... so i just gave up on the other one and finally got the new ball joint installed in the new lca ..

tried to drill the other one out but that didnt work ..
im going to replace the other just need to clean out the garage and insulate/heat it

 

yeah autozone like $10. I think its called 'compact car separator' or something. it will pop that broken stud right out.

 

i took it to a shop and they used a air press and nothing.. its really seized in there... oh well car is fixed and driving again

 

get a different lca. in the future, get Moog. Go on Amazon and I found mine for like 36 shipped...it's less than advance and bought some like 6 months before I swapped knuckles...

 

thats what i got was moog ,,the price didnt really bother we needed it fixed and it was in stock .. i got a lca from my parts car and used that ...