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Old 11-24-2003, 12:23 PM   #26
iceNine
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Member#: 12170
Join Date: Nov 2001
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Laurel, MD USA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX Sedan
Platnum Silver Metallic

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I tried to install the aluminum arms yesterday and after about 8 hours (on one side) of stuggling I finally gave up. I tried most of the methods listed above but I couldn't get the ball joint out of the knuckle OR out of the arm either. I used screwdrivers, wedges, pry bars, hammers and heat but couldn't separate them. At the end of that totally wasted and frustrating day I decided to sell all my tools and pay others to do the work for me. (Well ball joints anyway) . This should have been an easy job but I am obviously incompetent.

Dale
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Last edited by iceNine; 11-27-2003 at 08:45 AM.
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Old 11-24-2003, 01:34 PM   #27
Austin
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Member#: 7089
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Western Wa
Vehicle:
2016 STi

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Try a new method of car work - drink 2 beers every hour while you're working on your car.

At the very least, even if you don't actually accomplish any car work, it's not a wasted day.
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Old 11-25-2003, 04:47 AM   #28
NicGordon
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Join Date: Sep 2002
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Location: Michigan
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2008 Kia Spectra

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Quote:
Originally posted by Tim Sanderson
Here's what I did. YOu need a decent flat screwdiver that starts thin and gets fat after about 1/2 inch. And you need another thin screwdriver. And a hammer.

I am assuming that you have everything exposed.

You want to hammer the larger screwdriver into the slot. If you look at it you'll know. You do need to remove that bolt first. YOu don't need to beat it in there too much, You just want to spread it apart a bit. leave that sucker in there. Now take the smaller screwdriver and slide it in past the bigger one and pop that ball joint out of there. You should be able to wedge it out enough to get the tip of the screwdriver under that lip and with a little effort, out she comes.

These are not concise and perfect directions, but once you start trying it you should be able to get the gyst of what I meant. It took me about 3 hours to figure out how to do it the first time. And I could do it in about 30 seconds now.

Good luck
That's the way to do it. It's the method I used on the other knuckle/ball joint. Except I spread apart the slit enough, that I didn't have to use a second screwdriver to pry it out. I was able to just give a good tug, and it came out. The key is to get that slit seperated!

-Nic
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Old 11-25-2003, 12:20 PM   #29
Subayai WRX
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Join Date: May 2002
Chapter/Region: SCIC
Location: Las Virgenes Cyn, CA
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2002 WRX, Formerly
it was blue

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Being a long time shade tree mechanic, I have used all sorts of sprays to try and lossen rusted bolts. WD-40 is ok, and a bunch of others, BUT I will now announce that after hearing all the stuff about PB Blaster on this board, I gave it a try. We were doing an up-pipe, down-pipe, and stealth back on a WRX with only about 7,000 miles on it, so I didn' really expect to even need it. Well I used it on the all the down pipe to turbo bolts and nuts (since when I did my own car, 2 of the studs came out, instead of just the nut). OK to finally get to the point I wasn't completely convinced until I reached a bolt that should have been easy, but wouldn't budge. I hit it with PB Blaster, and gave it 2 minutes. Tried the bolt again, and voila! it came right off.

So hot up the local Pep Boys, and get a can. Spray it into the slot and around the knuckle/a-arm socket, and then try it. I think it will really break up any corrosion that has gone on in there.
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Old 11-05-2008, 02:07 PM   #30
PolarisSnT
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2004 WRX

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Ok so back from the dead with this one.

Went to tackle the passenger side ball joint. Had the wheel off, got the bolt that pinches the knuckle out but could not get the ball joint out of the housing. I wedged a screw driver in there but could not get the ball joint out. I even took off the tie rod end to get me some more leverage, there is just no room to get a hammer in there to really open up that slit.

Do I really have to pull the whole knuckle to make this easier? Its not hard to do I was just hoping to avoid that due to alignment issues and the axle nuts.
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Old 11-09-2008, 01:17 PM   #31
PolarisSnT
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Okay so the passenger side is finally done and what a battle it was.

Actually it wasnt that bad once I pulled my head out of my arse and looked at what I was doing.

A trick that helped me was to get the slit opened up, it doesnt take much but a nice fla head scewdriver is key. Then get a set of vice grips around that little lip that holds the dust boot on and get that ball joint to rotate in the knuckle. This will help break up the rust but the ball joint will most likely be useless so have a new one.

Once its loose, a combination of using a breaker bar to pry and smacking the the control arm with a rubber mallet and out she came. Im going to try the driver side tomorrow and Im hoping it will go a lot easier.

Edit: The second ball joint went so much smoother now that I knew what to do. Take off all necessary parts(brakes, rotors, tie rod, and sway bar) Once you get the screw driver wedged in the slit thake the vice grips and break all that rust free by rotating the ball joint. Use nhlur's method of prying the control arm down and out she came. Had the thing out in under a half hour.

Last edited by PolarisSnT; 11-10-2008 at 10:30 AM.
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Old 09-08-2020, 09:23 PM   #32
nickrick78
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On my 2006 Forester, I was able to remove the pinch bolt on each side and use a long pry bar to pry down on the control arm to force the joint out.

Lots of PB Blaster probably helped.
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