Ball joint removal - new dust covers

[Nomadic]

Had a good fight last month to replace a balljoint dustcover on my Mercedes Benz 1719 steering rods.

The conical shaped pin just would not leave the socket in the steering arm - whatever I tried;
Hammering, heating etc, nothing worked.

In the end I gave up and bought myself a Kukko balljoint puller;

Ball joint separator tool for dust cover replacement

Then the balljoint gave up - left the socket with an explosive snap. A frightful amount of force was needed to get that done.

The Kukko tool is well worth the price - no hammering, clean extraction, no sweat.

 

[Antichrist]

There's your problem, you need to remove the nut first.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

OTC 7315A is another option, basically the same thing.

 

[AA1PR]

If you are going to replace it anyway just use a pickle fork (tie rod fork) or they also make them for ball joints too

remove the cotter pin & nut & give it a few smacks & there it is

 

[I Leak Oil]

The two hammer method has never failed me. But, if someone really cranked the nut down I can see where you might NEED to use the tool. I have a similar tool that does basically the same thing but uses more of a scissor action.
When reassembling, the nut doesn't need to go on that tight. There is probably a torque spec. for it.

 

[LR Max]

x2 for pickle fork. I've rented them in the past but I need to quit being cheap and procure. If I'm using a pickle fork, it usually means I'm also replacing the joint as well.

However your tool also works very well.

 

[Nomadic]

Getting the nut turning at the balljoint wasn't easy either. Me and others failed to get it loose by hand
using a big wrench. As mentioned in this thread, the nut was probably tightened too hard.
Also the conical pin / socket might not have been greased before it was put together.

Finally it came loose with an air impact wrench, it took a few minutes of machinegun hammering :Wow1:
to get the nut turning.

 

[MotoDave]

I recently replaced all the steering joints on my T100, and bought myself 2 sizes of similar ball joint pullers from Proto tools. Well worth the money, they turned a job I'd not been looking forward to into a very easy process.