Ball Joint Stuck in Steering Knuckle

[arbita1]

Title says it all. I need to remove the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint will not come loose.

I've tried:

a gear puller (small one)
hammer
jacking it up and down
pry bar
penetrating oil

Anyone have any better ideas?

 

[boominXplorer]

BFH. It would be best to unload the T-bar so hopefully it will break out of the taper.

 

[Homerexplorer]

I rented a 2/3 jaw puller from Autozone and it worked great (deposit is fully refundable). The one I rented was a 3 jaw that was convertable to a 2 jaw
Paste this link into your browser and I think this is it:
http://www.autozone.com/in_our_stores/loan_a_tool/pullers_universal/2_3_jaw.htm
Convert it to the 2 jaw puller, place 1 jaw on the outside of the knuckle and the other on the inside. Carefully center it as best as possible, tightening it by hand. I didn't think it would hold but if you get it centered well it will. Then just put a wrench on it and pop it out. Good luck.

 

[Bills98Explorer]

Why not just rent the ball joint press.Way better than any 2 or 3 jaw puller.

 

[Homerexplorer]

He's not talking about getting the ball joint out of the control arm -for that he would need the press. He's talking about getting the ball joint out of the steering knuckle. It's a tapered fit and is seated pretty tight when you tighten the castle nut. A lot of people recommend a big hammer and beating the hell out of it. It was a lot easier with the puller.

 

[skoal_mint]

<Homerexplorer>

you can use a hammer for both ends, loosen the castle nut but leave it on a few threads, smack the knuckle part with the tapper pinch bolt it in, it will fall loose

 

[arbita1]

I finally got it out. Combination of hammer and puller.