Not having a ball

[MrBadwrench]

I am starting to do the suspension on a 68 Camaro. Dumping the stock front brakes and putting on a QA1 coil over and wilwoods and new sway bar. What I am having trouble with is separating the lower ball joint I lossened the nut and thought that if i gave it a good hit it would pop but it didn't so I got out the pickle fork and buried that and still it holds fast. I ran out of time so now it will sit till Sat. I just thought I would get some ideas. Thanks in advance.:twothumbs

[69LT1Nova]

Get two 1/2" bolts and a 1/2" tie rod sleeve at any hardware store. Wedge it in between the upper and lower ball joints, and turn one of the bolts to lengthen the whole assembly. It'll press out the lower if you leave the upper castle nut on the upper ball joint. **TIP** drill out a pocket in the head of each bolt to help keep it from falling off the ball joint studs when you're turning the bolts.

Usually a good whack with a hammer will get 'em loose though.

[Denvervet]

Marcus at Sc&C carries one of those gizmos already made. I had to use a pickle fork to get old ones off and still had to beat the sh$$ out of it with a BFH for 2 evenings to get it off. Good thing I'm getting new stuff to replace spindle, etc. Next time I use Marcus's device...same as above homemade one. For $20 I get one premade.
PS don't use pickle unless you plan on replacing ball joints.

[Denvervet]

One last thing, I think my problem and likely yours with the pickle is that it doesn't wedge exactly square on top of the A arm...I finally placed a large screwdriver under the low side of the picle pickled and it popped right off. Upper ones had no problems at all.

[David Pozzi]

Here is a bolt type separator I made, the long nut is a "Coupler nut" I welded a piece of scrap shaft to the other end but you can use two bolts instead. I cut a small dish in each end to keep it centered, plus used a bolt sized to use a 15/16" wrench so I'd have more leverage with the larger wrenches. You may want to get another pickle fork that is thicker if yours is bottoming out.
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[Chevy]

I run the DSE coilover conversion and you have to break the ball joint everytime you adjust shock stiffness or ride height. I was tired of using the BFH to no avail so i went out and bought a Front End Service Kit. It has a tool that does the same job as the ones that are suggested here but is probably a little easier to use and has ball bearings and cradles the spindle without damaging the boot or ball joint.

I salute all the folks here who made their own but if you are in a hurry run down and buy one of these kits and you'll be set. It takes me about 3 minutes to break this joint.

Good Luck!

[derekf]

"Front End Service Kit" - GM tool, or someone else's? How much?

[Marcus SC&C]

The turnbuckle style tools are actually the style GM designed and recomended back in the day. They stopped making them many years ago, Kent Moore tools took over,then they stopped. We talked Howe Racing into making them again. They quick and easy to use and for $19.90 IMO it`s hardly worth taking the time to make a crude one. http://www.scandc.com/tools.htm Mark SC&C

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[69LT1Nova]

20 bucks!?! Ha! $3 at a hardware store and no S&H. Take your pick...

It took me 5 minutes to fab mine up... including drilling a pocket in the bolt heads.

[MrBadwrench]

Thanks guys for all the great input. I will be up early and at the shop ready to give it a try. I will let you know how it goes. Have a great weekend.
:cool:

[Vegas69]

20 bucks!?! Ha! $3 at a hardware store and no S&H. Take your pick...

It took me 5 minutes to fab mine up... including drilling a pocket in the bolt heads.
Ya right

[MrBadwrench]

HEAT baby! HEAT was the answer. And the ox/ace torch was only 25ft away. Had my head completely up my keister.:eek: Thanks guys for all your prompt advice I do appreciate it. Thanks again.

[Marcus SC&C]

Spindles are heat treated for proper hardness and ductility so it`s not a great idea to take a torch to them.
Car $20,000, Trick Suspension and Brake Parts $1500, simple $19 tool to do the job right...priceless. Mark SC&C