guys im changing the struts in my vl and i cant get the balljoint unstuck, ive heated it, smacked the ***n thing with sledge hammers, you name it, got dw40 soaking into it now and im gona see if that works. ive tried balljoint seperators and pressing tools n all i just cant get it off!!!!!!! HELP! oh btw the left one came off much easier, few smacks n it was off

hey mate, be carefull bashing the ball joints as you can damage/distort the control arm! i just changed the springs in my calais and when i read the gregorys manual it warned against hitting the ball joints out, due to distorting the arm, it said to take the control arm off and have the ball joint removed in a workshop!

Mate just get another control arm from the wreckers, like $25... Failing that, just cut it Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

im broke as **** lol, my manual dosnt say nething bout that, it says that u need taper brakers, which i tried and they just slip off, im gona keep trying with the fork thing n see if i can modiffy it abit so it fits lol

Yeah I tried taking the ball joints out of my control arm when it got pinched, not a chance in hell it was going to happen. Just scab the loose change from your back seat lol, most VL's have a mini gold mine under there Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I posted this on another forum just recently... "I actually had this problem a few days ago, couldn't get one side off no matter what I done. lots of wd40, tried a bit of heat from a heat gun, air hammer etc. Nothing worked. In the end I found an old g clamp in the garage and it seemed to fit quite well. I left the nut on the ball joint slightly protruding so the end of the threaded part of the g clamp fitted snuggly etc and couldn't come off. I had to use a breaker bar on the g clamp but came off quite easily with a loud crack as the ball joint broke loose I wanted to reuse the ball joints as well and this didn't cause any damage to them apart from the nut which is easily replaced. I will now be using this method every time I have to do this job as it doesn't cause any damage. I've seen so many struts and control arms with hammer marks all over them!!!"

Quote: Originally Posted by Com_VC I posted this on another forum just recently... "I actually had this problem a few days ago, couldn't get one side off no matter what I done. lots of wd40, tried a bit of heat from a heat gun, air hammer etc. Nothing worked. In the end I found an old g clamp in the garage and it seemed to fit quite well. I left the nut on the ball joint slightly protruding so the end of the threaded part of the g clamp fitted snuggly etc and couldn't come off. I had to use a breaker bar on the g clamp but came off quite easily with a loud crack as the ball joint broke loose I wanted to reuse the ball joints as well and this didn't cause any damage to them apart from the nut which is easily replaced. I will now be using this method every time I have to do this job as it doesn't cause any damage. I've seen so many struts and control arms with hammer marks all over them!!!" man u talkin bout unsticking the strut from the balljoint or the balljoint from the control arm, if u talking bout the strut, gimme a call [phone removed] because i been smacking the *** outta it for the past hour n heating it n **** with the blowtorch n it still aint giving out! or if u want ill call u just sms me your numba coz imma b in the back trying to get the ***n thing off lol

all ball joints are pressed in and out

im talking about removing the strut from the control arm ball joint. Be careful putting too much heat in it as you may weaken it all. I'm in Victoria so probably no good to you. Try and get hold of a 12" g clamp and give that a go.

so pretty much get the g clamp under one side of the strut and the other on the nut and tighten the ****er?

Quote: Originally Posted by [GRK-WPN] so pretty much get the g clamp under one side of the strut and the other on the nut and tighten the ****er? yep, you'll need a short bit of pipe, probably like 300mm for some extra leverage. I shoulda got a pic

yeahh i thought of that i can use the handle off my trolley jack Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

yeah that will work.. give it a go and post the results Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

no go, i used one of them big long ***n clamps they use for doors n cabinet making, i chopped off the long big n left asmuch as i needed, well this is like a flat bar, 30-40mm wide and 8mm thick, i just kept tightening and tightening and tightening, the bar is now as crook as a 80 year old. also heated it while it was on hoping that itd pop off, no go looking like imma get a new control arm i couldnt find a g clamp lol

get the angle grinder or whatever you used to cut your parcel shelf and just cut the control arm in half and when your done superglue it back together problem solved

can you take some piks n show me what to do?

Quote: Originally Posted by MMMM get the angle grinder or whatever you used to cut your parcel shelf and just cut the control arm in half and when your done superglue it back together problem solved I agree.... This is the easy fix

turn your steering wheel towards the side your working on i bet your wheels are facing forwards just give it a try

instead of trying to remove the strut from the control arm, just remove the entire strut and control arm as one... a couple more bolts and the whole thing will just fall out...

Ok this sounds crazy but it does work. Get a can of lighter fluid and find a spray can nozzel that fits on it spray maybe half the can on the ball joints and then give it a tap with a hammer. when i tried it mine feel straight out and it was a stubborn bastarrd the idea is that the lighter cools the metal making it contract and making it easier to get out. there may be something else you can use other than lighter fluid but it works......