can anyone tell me how to get the lower ball joints out of my 93 civic ex? theyre loose, but wont come up past the spindles. HELP!!

 

Your best options would probably be a nice, big prybar that you can anchor on something while pulling down on the A-arm, or, get a BFH & smack the **** out of the joint, (hitting upward), or take the same BFH & try smacking the outside part of the A-arm that encircles the threaded end of the joint... or a combination of any of the above. If you have air tools, a ball joint spreader attachment on an air-hammer can work wonders. Good luck!

 

Big hammer.

Hit the SIDE of the A arm, NOT the joint and NOT the threads.

You'll have to hit it like you want to break it, but you won't. It will take 2-3 GOOD hits to come out.

 

The threaded end of the joint is encircled by the control arm. Hitting it upward will cause no harm to the joint or threads, upward being the key word here. The only thing that you have to be careful of, is mushrooming the end. Typically, you'd have to have an S on your chest to mushroom it before it gave, but it's something to be aware of. This is what works for me when all else fails - as it often does with ball joints.

 

Folks, no one helping here, How about removing the LOCK ring before pounding the ball joint to kingdom come?

BTW most replacement ball joints, even Honda OEM do no have the lock ring.