ball joint hell......

hey all, just figured to throw this around. im replacing the lower ball joints. the car has over 114000 miles. i went to remove castle nut, and this ball joint as sooooo much play all it does is spinn. i tried hitting the fork in there, tried heating it(propane only no oxy-acetalene). no luck. i was thinking of wizzing off the turrets on the catsle nut as to then put a dowl in the cottor pin hole and use that for leverage.....not much leverage tho........ any thoughts? ideas? thanks.:runaround: Dave

"Whack" the ball joint back UP into the spindle. The "self-locking" taper of the bayonet is what holds it in place. Hit it HARD. Using an impact (large, 1/2" drive) gun on the nut can make it a lot easier to remove. Once you've broken the nut loose, you can hit the bayonet on top, "breaking" the taper "lock" or use the "pickle fork" to split it.

If you don't have access to an impact, after you've reseated the bayonet, heat the NUT (not the spindle or bayonet) with the propane. While still hot, it SHOULD expand enough to loosen it with hand tools.

Jim