Ok guys here is the deal I have a 97 hatch with si suspension and brakes. I have changed the axles and done three swaps in the car in the last year. I was driving today and the lower ball joint let go and the LCA wedged itself betweent the wheel and the rotor. Yea it was hella cool, I blocked traffic at the college! anyway got the heap towed home and ordered some new ball joints. how can I avoid this is the future. It wasnt bad becuase it was going slow, but could have been very serious. Is there a better way to split that thing when you do the axles, the ball joint seperator tears the crap out of those things too. thanks-josh

 

up!

 

hehe, same thing happened to my girls accord on the verrazano brigde, luckily we were right in the middle and there was no traffic at the time. her's snapped in half and the wheel kicked out and yanked the axle out which the wheel went sideways in the fender.. def wasnt pretty but i believe her uncle didnt tighten the nut well enuff or forgot the cotter pin that goes there.

its not something that common just need to make sure you tighten that bolt under there pretty well also woring on the suspension. about the balljoint the best way to loosen it is basically the biggest hammer you can get and just hit it right where the balljoint goes in the LCA, the vibration will basically make it just "pop" out if it doesnt keep trying it eventually will. or just impact different spots.

 

yea I have heard of other people doing that too. I tried it but didn't work, guess i just need to get a bigger hammer! will try that thanks for the in put

 

yea - use a big freaking hammer and wack the hell out of the lca till it pops out. At first it didnt work for me, but i want hitting it hard enough. i use a 22 oz hammer cause im so ******* strong or try a small sledge. just wack it a couple time and then nail it really hard next to the ball joint and it will pop right out. also works for the steering rack and upper ball joint
GOOD LUCK!!

 

This should never happen unless the balljoint stud breaks as in that one doods case but if the castle nut is on there tight this should not happen.

If you did not tighten the castle nut down the force from your suspension will eventually push the bolt off, stripping all the threads on its way off, this happened to me.

I never hit my lca's if you have the right ball joint seperator it works perfectly, I bought one at autozone for 5 dollars, does the job everytime. It even works on the top ball joint too and that is a bitch sometimes.

 

I tried a ball joint seperator and the SOB always busts the grease out of the rubber cover.

 

so if it pushes grease out take the cover off and put more in
that simple

 

Hey, I'm pretty sure snap on, mac, or any of the big name tools sells a 2 jaw type, ball joint puller separator that is boot frindly. The pickle forks just jack those suckers up usually.

 

yea you got it
i will check mac or snap on

 

the damn vatozone ball joint thingy works just fine, doesn't ruin boots.

It looks like a U about 4 inches tall. Black threaded thing up the middle. The arms are not adjustable, its one solid U.

Just make sure when you put it on, its under the boot, damn, I use this think all the time and NEVER have had a problem.

Only 5 bucks.