Club 80-90 Forums

So I am onto my last ball joint for the front of the van, left this one till last as the one on the other side was a pain.

The 2 Allan screw that's hold in the upper ball joint were completely rounded off and corroded so I had to resort to grinding them off. Really not my best skill as can be seen in the images. Now I am hammering away at the top of the ball joint to knock it out of the wishbone and there is still no movement .

The other end of the ball joint is stuck on the knuckle and I'm just wondering does anyone have any guidance or ideas where to go from here.

I dont see no pictures, did you upload them right?

Sorry, i just got home there my phone died as i was uploading them so i will post them when it gets a bit of juice in it.

I ended up removing the wishbone and was able to get the knuckle off the ball joint so thats a win. The ball joint is still stuck in the wishbone though, but i must bring the knuckle to a mechanic tomorrow to press in the lower ball joint and i am hoping he will be able to do something with the stuck upper ball joint.
 

So here is the angle grinder botch job



Here is where the g-clamp snapped making me walk away in a rage.



And when I came back to give it one more go a spanner flew up and hit me in the head, really underlining that I should pack it in for the day

One thing I have learned when working on the bus, when it annoys, when its testing you, tools down and give it a break.

If you carry on - ham fisting comes into play and something will break.

Ya getting frustrated is what led me down the angle grinder path instead of getting the fittings for the drill to drill out stuck bolts/screws. So annoyed at myself now like

pleasestartnow wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 19:49 Here is where the g-clamp snapped..

Ha - I had one just like that!!



This was 3 years ago when I was replacing my ball joints.. I look back and laugh now, but trying to press the lower in with THAT? What was I thinking?

To quote the artilleryman from War Of The Worlds.. "bows and arrows against the lightning".  

In the end I took it to my local garage and even they broke a sweat getting it in.
 

Heat and whack it downwards with club hammer and heavy duty centre punch to break the bond between threads and wishbone, caused by angle grinder heat.

Or jemmy bar between upright and wishbone and lever upwards while hitting down on bush.

To answer the original question, I don’t remember having much trouble getting free from the wishbone, but did similar to what maxstu suggests.. hold the wishbone up with a pry bar and knock the ball joint out with a large hammer.

Glad to see I'm not the only person to break a clamp doowyrag. Mine broke getting out the track rod joint it took me a few seconds to register what had happened haha. I'm hoping the mechanic when he presses in the lower joint will be able to press out the upper joint for me. I can see the actual joint itself doesn't look stuck its just the bolts look bonded to the wishbone now like you say maxstu. I was hammering the sh1te out of it and no budging. Local mechanic is notoriously cranky so fingers crossed he is in a good mood when I call in later.

You haven’t ground all the heads of the bolts , they are essentially still bolted in, you may be better off drilling the bolts out although with the depth of the grinder marks a replacement arm may be a better solution

Not wishing to add to frustrations but thought this problem was a lower ball joint not upper as headed.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Igdi8tZLDo

When i did mine i had to grind the old bolts off, used a flap wheel towards the end so i didnt damage the arm if i slipped, then just a bit of plusgas and belted the life out of the top of the balljoint with a big hammer til it flew out.

Cheers folks again for all the help.

The mechanic said he would sort it today and i can collect them tomorrow so fingers crossed. 
 

davidoft1 wrote: ↑14 Apr 2023, 07:48 You haven’t ground all the heads of the bolts , they are essentially still bolted in, you may be better off drilling the bolts out although with the depth of the grinder marks a replacement arm may be a better solution

Getting a new wishbone is the last place i want be but just in case i saw on https://air-cooled-parts.com/ that he sells used ones with the washers sorted already so i have sent him a message to find out whats the story just in case i have to go down that path. 

TONYT25T25 wrote: ↑14 Apr 2023, 09:18 Not wishing to add to frustrations but thought this problem was a lower ball joint not upper as headed.

If you see in that video at the 13:40 mark he grinds off the two allan bolts, thats where i made a hames of it. The lower ball joint for me came away nice and handy and i grinded off the tie rod joint as well, so my knuckle is actually ok. its just the upper stuck in the wishbone is the (mechanics) problem now.

Just an update, the mechanic undid my handy work and it's all ready to back together.....or so I thought . Threads on new track rod are damaged so I can't thread it in. Must send it back and get replacement so everything is on pause till then.