pitman arm off drag link Help????
I have the Harbor Freight air hammer, but have never used to remove ball joints. What part do you strike and which hammer head to use? There are pickle fork attachments for air hammers.
damincooltom,
The two-hammer method sounds interesting, but not sure I understand. Do you use the hammers to force the 2 parts apart, but strike the bodies instead of the stud? I have done similar with one hammer by beating the stud down, usually on tie rod ends. I thread the nut up to beat as well but still manage to mess up the threads sometimes and have to fix w/ a die.
Another way I read it is that the hammers "pinch" the body that encloses the stud. Smashing it together squeezes the stud out, due to the taper. If that works, it is very interesting.
This ball joint stud problem hasn't changed on newer cars. I removed the lower one on my 2002 T&C last week to remove the tranny (what a job!) and resorted to the pickle fork. My 1996 Voyager is better. Instead of a pressed-in tapered stud, the lower ball joint has a short, straight shaft that is pinched by a bolt. Much easier to remove. Chyrsler engineers are back-tracking.
