Hi Guys,
I am having trouble separating the balljoint stud from the control arm on a 1996 Taurus. Wehad no trouble doing this on my '97 Taurus a few weks ago, but this '96 is proving to be a problem child.
Per the yutube video below, the problem is the gap between the bottm of the steering knuckle is too wide for a pickl fork to do any good, byut the stud is in there so tight a jackscrew tool is ineffective.
Abyone have any ideas? I’ve done this with no problem a number of Taurus/Sables, from '96-97 (as I have owned a number of them) this is the first time I have had this problem.
Video: http://www…phFl5dIYlQ
Get a different pickel fork or use a blunt tip on a air chisel and drive the “stud” directly up. Pickel fork will tear the boot,blunt tip will damage the threads,are you planning on replacing the ball joint?
If you get a pickel fork that will work,while you are pounding on the pickel fork have someone else smack the area (with a hammer) around the ball joint stud.
Doing suspension work without air tools is not a fun Sunday.
Yes balljoint boot was already torn and balljoint had play in it anyway so we will replace if we can ever get it out.
I would try a jaw type puller instead of the jackscrew. The kind of puller where the jaws would hook around the control arm and the screw pressing directly on the threaded stud. Then tapping the control arm to help it out or maybe some heat and tapping while there is pressure on that stud.
When I had a stubborn ball joint on a Taurus of that vintage, the only way I was able to remove it was with a ball joint removal kit. Autozone rents them for free.
thx. I’m not trying to remove balljoint right now. I am just trying to separate the balljoint stud from the control arm so I can get the knuckle off the car. Once I have that done I plan to have a shop press the old balljoint out of the knuckle and press a new one in.
Isn’t the Taurus the car that has power steering lines that are both prone to leak and a real bear to replace?
Well, what ended up happening is I got a u-shaped shim fabricated that is a bit thicker than any of my pickle forks and pounded that into the gap. The stud did not come out of the control arm, but the ball did separate from the joint. That means I have to take the control arm out and get the stud pressed out when I take the knuckle in to get the ball socket pressed out of that. Same thing happened on both sides.