Yup, lived in Ontario for 9 years and experienced frozen ball joints a lot.

I now have a BIG pickle fork to go with my 4 lb sledge - 'Open Sesame!'  ;)

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Rob <becida@comcast.net> wrote:

> Did that all the time in the shop, used a 5# hammer. Works great on
> tie rod ends, so-so on ball joints... pickle fork with either the
> hammer or on an air gun for the ball joints. Heat once in awhile.
> 5 pound hammers are wonderful tools... but I do not carry one as part
> of my car kit
>
> Rob
> becida@comcast.net
>
>
> At  11/18/2010 12:08 PM, Daryl Christensen wrote:
>
>> Don't know if anyone has given this way yet...
>> Loosen the nut on the shank of the joint (ball or tie rod) so its just
>> holding on by 2 threads and smack the bejesus of the rounded tapered
>> portion
>> of receiver with a 2 lb Ford Wrench (Hammer)..not the stud..the part the
>> goes to the spindle while prying upwards on the joint itself.. Pry the
>> tierod up away from the spindle or the ball joint away from the spindle..A
>> 2
>> lb hammer smack will distort the hole enough and after several hits, it
>> will
>> generally come loose without hurting either the joint of the boot. Keep
>> the
>> nut on so it wont go flyin away.
>> Hope this makes sense as I a doing this on the fly...
>>
>> Daryl of AA Transaxle
>> 425-788-4070
>> "On the cutting edge of Old technology"
>> 86 Syncro Westy with a Zetec in the trunk
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>> neil n
>> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 10:08 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Ball Joint removal.
>>
>> I'm reminded of a trick a repairman showed me to remove a stuck
>> mouthpiece from a trumpet.
>>
>> The receiver on trumpet and MP shank are a Morse taper. You carefully
>> tap on the receiver working your way from narrow end out which ever so
>> slightly expands the receiver. This being one technique in expanding a
>> cone when manufacturing.
>>
>> Seems to me the same principal might apply to a tapered part on a
>> Vanagon front end. IF so, would it help to start at the narrowest and
>> end and work your way "outward"?
>>
>> Likely totally hard to do given room restrictions, etc., but just a
>> thought.
>>
>> Neil.
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 1:56 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans
>> <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>> -
>> >
>> > 1st method.....
>> > here's how you get any tapered 'tie rod end' ...
>> > or ball joint out of what it's stuck in.
>> >
>> > i'll just talk about the tie rod end to illustrate ..
>> > for one of those ........it's in the 'spindle arm' ...
>> > you get a pretty serious ball been hammer ..
>> > I like a slightly shortened handle for more control...
>> > and you what that spindle arm straight on the end , hard ..
>> > being careful not to hit the wrong thing ...don't want to damage threads
>> on
>> > anything etc.
>> >
>> > of the 10th to 30th very hard sharp whack the tapered part will jump
>> out.
>> > Check now and then ...it might loosen but not actually jump out.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>>
>> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>>
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engine
>> s
>>
>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX 'The Grey Van'
1986 Westy Weekender/2.5 SOHC Suby 'Dixie'

Crescent Beach, BC

www.thebassspa.com
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27