Subie experts: I need help with ball joints

Talk about stuff NOT related to SCCV operations.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dave_G
Posts: 987
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:02 pm
Location: Cornwall, VT
Contact:

Subie experts: I need help with ball joints

Post by Dave_G »

My son recently got a 2005 Subaru Forester. I'm trying to replace one of the ball joints (and the axle) on it, and have got the ball joint separated from the control arm, and the axle out of the hub. I've also managed to get the ball joint pinch bolt out without breaking it. (Yay!) All that's left now is to get the ball joint out of the knuckle, and that @$%^# is kicking my a**.

I've tried various sure-fire remedies found on the Internet, and various combinations of floor jacks, cold chisels, air hammers, pickle forks, BFHs, lots of Kroil, and lots of heat, but that ball joint is no closer to coming out than it was when I started.

Does anyone here have any experience with this? There's gotta be a way to get that stupid thing out!
Dave GuertinImage
'90 Miata (summer fun)
'91 BMW 325iX (winter fun) oo=[][]=oo
'04 Mazda 6s wagon (family fun)
User avatar
Dave_G
Posts: 987
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:02 pm
Location: Cornwall, VT
Contact:

Re: Subie experts: I need help with ball joints

Post by Dave_G »

Success! This Internet guy came up with a homemade ball-joint puller that worked like a charm: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99- ... uller.html. If anyone else reads this and happens to need to get a Subie ball joint out, this tool will pop it out in a few minutes. It took me a lot longer to actually make the thing than it did to use it.
Dave GuertinImage
'90 Miata (summer fun)
'91 BMW 325iX (winter fun) oo=[][]=oo
'04 Mazda 6s wagon (family fun)
User avatar
Serrilion
Posts: 121
Joined: Wed May 07, 2014 3:01 am
Location: Western Vermont
Contact:

Re: Subie experts: I need help with ball joints

Post by Serrilion »

about to say ya live close by im sure we could have managed something. glad it worked :), they are normaly a PITA but that homemade tool the guy had looks pritty good, I may have to try that my self sometime :o
yea so a guy told me, "I bet I get laid twice as much as you," so I said, "Two times zero is still equal to zero," totally awesome.

#813 Ryan Fitz
User avatar
Rabbit Farmer
SCCV Board Advisor
SCCV Board Advisor
Posts: 5193
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:37 pm
Location: Milton, Vermont
Contact:

Re: Subie experts: I need help with ball joints

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Pretty cool, Dave. I didn't realize how large everything was until the 1 1/8 wrench was brought into the picture.
Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
Post Reply