Ball joint removal without tool.. possible?

[BoostInsideTSi]

On my tie-rod end is a balljoint. the thing got crushed and leaked grease everywhere. I bought a new one, and am trying to get the old one off. Is it possible to get this son bi*** off without the balljoint seperator tool? Any suggestions on how to go about it? Thanks.
Mike

 

[Lancer14]

I just did the ball joints on my Eclipse a couple months ago. I hammered the old ones out. Just go to a hardware store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc...) and get a pipe that has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of the ball joint, and is taller than the ball joint. It should be in the plumbing aisle. You can use the pipe to support the control arm while you pound the old ball joint out.
For installation of the new joint I used a 'C' clamp. Put the pipe on the opposite side of the control arm with a board or something solid covering the opening so that one end of the clamp is on the board and the other end is on the bottom side of the ball joint. Tighten the clamp and install the clip to hold the ball joint in place (you may need to do a bit of persuading with a hammer. If this is the case don't hit the joint directly with the hammer, use a board between the joint and hammer.)
This is the method I used to change all 6 ball joints on my Eclipse.
HTH

Chris

Edit: I just saw that you said it was on your tie rod end. Are you sure its a ball joint and not the tie rod end?

 

[dont need 8]

You can use a hammer to knock it out, just be careful and use a nut on the end to keep from mushrooming the bolt. Basically, loosen the nut and back it off flush with the bolt, this should give you enough space to hammer the joint loose.

 

[BoostInsideTSi]

I did what you recommended with the nut being flush with the bolt. i hammered the balljoint loose, went to take off the nut and when I spin the nut the bolt spins with it. Grabbed the bolt with some pliers the best I could but it spins with the nut everytime now. Probably goign to have to cut off the bolt.

 

[dont need 8]

That sucks, I did both sides of my car this way and had no problem. I spoke to quite a few automotive places before I did it and they all said that you don't need the ball joint removal tool. Mine took about two wacks and the bolt popped out of the hole and I just backed the nut off.

 

[BoostInsideTSi]

grabbed the bolt with some wire cutters (because it had so little clearance room) and ended up getting the nut to back out after 20 mins. Gotta finish taking off the tie rod end tommorow and putting the new one on. hopefully it fixes my problem.. gonna get cold soon and need some cruise time!

 

[BoostInsideTSi]

OK I am trying to back out the tie rod end which is just screwed on to the tie rod, and that thing won't budge. It has a locking nut also on the rod holding it in place, but I shouldnt have to move that if im just backing out the tie rod end should I? I took a breaker bar to the bi*** and it wont move. Maybe some PB Blaster would help? Any ideas how you guys got yours out?

 

[Turblown]

I took a breaker bar to the bi*** and it wont move. Maybe some PB Blaster would help? Any ideas how you guys got yours out?

Yes it will. I had some time on my hands so I just used PB Blaster a couple times a day for a few days. It still took some work to make it happen though. I've read that cleaning the threads on the Tie Rod in order for the nut to loosen helps also.

 

[djjohns55]

You should be able to find a pickle fork tool somewhere. They are fairly cheap

 

[GSXspeeddemon]

That nut wont let you back it out. you have to loosen it first before you back out the tie rod. Use pb blaster and then put the ball joint back into its place so it wont move and put your weigh on that nut. Once that nut is loose the tie rod back up easily.