lateral link removal

[Roadway 5.0]

I'll be attacking this soon. So many ways to skin the cat so to speak. Hopefully I can get this done. I don't want to pay a shop to do it.

Bashing the hub’s female portion of the connection with a large sledge works well, but you’ll need a lift to get the impact needed. I had to wind-up my sledge swing like Darryl Strawberry in the ‘86 World Series in order to get the arm to finally drop.

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[OrangeCrush5.0]

I starting pounding it out with a big hammer, it barely moved. I took a smaller hammer and tapped on the side of the knuckle around the area where the bolt was pressed in, I then hit the bolt one time and it came right out. I went to the other side and again tapped on the knuckle around the area the bolt was pressed on, I then hit the bolt one time and it popped right out.

 

[thornclaw]

i just did this job and had a difficult time removing the passenger side lateral link.
finally i got this tool from harbor freight for 10 bucks

hammer this in between the link and the knuckle. then use a small jack to jack the handle up until the end of the link breaks free. worked like a charm. it will, however, wreck the rubber boot of the lateral link
so be prepared to discard the old link.
this worked after hours of pounding with a 4 lb hammer, liquid wrench, brake cleaner, wd40 and jacking up the wheel and pounding on it over and over again.

 

[bridge4d]

Old thread I know but same issue. I installed the FP MagnaRide Handling Pack. Afterward I was left with a floating disconnected steering feel and realized I needed the bumpsteer and lateral link kit which I got from Steeda. After spending several hours banging away at the knuckle with a hammer then a fork and air hammer, I really take issue, nay, umbrage to the videos posted by the likes of Steeda or CJ Pony Parts that shows mechanics hitting the knuckle a few times then the ball joint magickly separating. Horse hocky...buffalo bagels...I too had to resort to using the ball joint fork and a jack to get it to separate.

 

[s550gtbase]

Old thread I know but same issue. I installed the FP MagnaRide Handling Pack. Afterward I was left with a floating disconnected steering feel and realized I needed the bumpsteer and lateral link kit which I got from Steeda. After spending several hours banging away at the knuckle with a hammer then a fork and air hammer, I really take issue, nay, umbrage to the videos posted by the likes of Steeda or CJ Pony Parts that shows mechanics hitting the knuckle a few times then the ball joint magickly separating. Horse hocky...buffalo bagels...I too had to resort to using the ball joint fork and a jack to get it to separate.

Same situation. Took a few hours to get both both ball joints off. Will do the other side tomorrow. Maybe they have a trick to make it easier to pop off? I don't know.

 

[kz]

I ended up buying the unicorn tool Ford specs in the manual. Took 2 minutes to separate it.

 

[thornclaw]

this works and is much cheaper than ford tool. it wont expand far enough to reach over the ball joint stud. so take a dremel and cut 1 cm off the stud and it will fit

 

[Bossdog]

I ended up buying the unicorn tool Ford specs in the manual. Took 2 minutes to separate it.

Here is my experience:
Bottom Line, @kz was exactly right ,Eazy-Peazy with the right tool.
@kz was kind enough to measure the distance between the forks of his "unicorn tool", 1.26"
The reason I was interested is that I needed to remove both the Steering arm ball joint for the bump steer kit and the Lateral link ball joint for roll center adjustment on a lowered car. The Steering link ball joint needed a minimum of 1.1" wide fork (max of 1.4") to get around that ball joint but the lateral link is larger and needs a min of 1.44" span.
Some tools on line give that dimension, others don't.
Freedom Racing sells the "unicorn tool" for $200 plus, they have an non-OEM version for $139. I spoke with the Freedom racing people, Super friendly, helpful and accessible.
That being said, other options that should work:
Astro tools, 78912, 1.28" fork opening, several seller between $40 and $50
SPO Racing rts 25112, 1.34" fork opening

I purchased the SPO Racing rts for $50 shipped, 2-day. ($41+ tax & Ship) On the Lateral link, the stud is a little taller so I had to take the "foot" off the tool under which is a small ball. I needed to drill a concave surface in the top of the lateral link stud to prevent the tool from slipping off under high torque pressure. The Steering arm ball joint stud already has a bit of a concave surface on the tip of the stud, so no issue there.
Then, Just crank down on that tool till its almost too hard to crank, then begin tapping on the outer steel housing of the ball joint, nothing crazy, I used a 4 lb hand-held sledge. Be patient, keep tapping and BANG! it explodes off. Leave the nut on the very top to limit the arm travel as it removes itself from the ball joint socket.

The problem with the HF tool @thornclaw posted, which I have, is the fork is too narrow ( mine is about .75") and also, it doesn't open enough to used on these 2 mentioned ball joints, even after I took my grinder to the tool pretty extensively.

I hope this is helpful, I've always been a little intimidated getting ball joints off without causing other damage. Never comfortable swinging a sledge at my suspension. Clearly, its all about having the right tool. (AS ALWAYS)

this works and is much cheaper than ford tool. it wont expand far enough to reach over the ball joint stud. so take a dremel and cut 1 cm off the stud and it will fit

 

[stang-man]

The new links have new ball joints and nut,s so no need to worry about damaging the old parts.
BFH
If you want to keep the old parts for some reason, rent a puller kit from the local auto parts store

 

[Bossdog]

The new links have new ball joints and nut,s so no need to worry about damaging the old parts.
BFH
If you want to keep the old parts for some reason, rent a puller kit from the local auto parts store

Puller kit, what is that? I did rent a ball joint removal kit from the local national chain auto parts store. The tool was too small, not even close. The only other rental tool was a pickle fork, which you can make work.
as to not damaging parts, sure , when you are replacing them. But at some point I’ll need to replace bearing hubs with ford upgraded Mach1 bearings, which don’t fit ANY knuckle other than Mach 1, so you have to take it ALL apart without damaging any parts, and reattach all the arms to the new knuckle.
in the scheme of things, the amount of money I spend on this car getting it track ready, $50 bucks is a bargain! I love having the right tool, especially when it turns 2 hours of aggravation into 10 min of simplicity! If I can rent the tool , even better but I haven’t found it in my town.

 

[stang-man]

Puller kit, what is that? I did rent a ball joint removal kit from the local national chain auto parts store. The tool was too small, not even close. The only other rental tool was a pickle fork, which you can make work.
as to not damaging parts, sure , when you are replacing them. But at some point I’ll need to replace bearing hubs with ford upgraded Mach1 bearings, which don’t fit ANY knuckle other than Mach 1, so you have to take it ALL apart without damaging any parts, and reattach all the arms to the new knuckle.
in the scheme of things, the amount of money I spend on this car getting it track ready, $50 bucks is a bargain! I love having the right tool, especially when it turns 2 hours of aggravation into 10 min of simplicity! If I can rent the tool , even better but I haven’t found it in my town.

My local Auto Zone had a couple of different tools sets to rentl/oan.
The set I rented had 4 or 5 different ball joint/pitman arm pullers/seperators.

 

[Bossdog]

I’ll have to admit, I did t try autozone, they usually don’t have what I’m looking for. I tried O’Reillys and they had one size ball joint tool, small. I’ll have to check Auto Zone next time I’m looking to borrow a tool.

 

[RTR077]

I ran across the same issues. The joint separator kept sliding off as I tightened it down.

I ended up talking to my old man - his suggestion to hit the ball joint separator with a hammer worked like a charm. Two whacks and job done.

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