disconnect steering rack?

[gsxonthebeach]

I went to replace my driver side LCA today and everything was going smoothly until it was time to pull the lower ball joint off of the knuckle. It wouldn't separate itself from knuckle, and I only have about a centimeter to work with as what I believe is the steering rack is directly above the ball joint. I know that if I could just get one clean whack with the hammer, that it would fall right out, but the "steering rack" for lack of the correct term, is right in the way. How can I disconnect this from the knuckle so that I can get the ball joint out? Ill include a picture so everyone is on the same page, I outlined part of the culprit in yellow and the red arrow is pointing at the top of the ball joint.

 

[aaronhawk60]

that is you cv axle that you have circled if you pull your tire remove the axle nut and disconnect the spindle from he strut you can pull the axle to gain access to the ball joint. or you can get a tool from autozone to seperate the ball joint it's a little bigger than a tie rod removal tool

 

[oldman420]

^ Too much work. Take the tire off, loosen it untill the nut hits the boot, then give the knuckle a solid couple of WHACKS!!! with a 14oz. ball-pein and it should drop.