Mechanic Help, Ball Joint 2004 Elantra

"Luken10" (luken10) 08/27/2015 at 19:03 • Filed to: Stubborn bolts make me want to quit wrenching

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Attempting to do my first clutch job for a friend’s Elantra. Things have been going, well, less than spectacular! Spent the last hour and a half trying to get the ball joint off of the hub so we can remove the axle. How do I get them to separate?!?

We have tried using a four foot long pry bar and a small rubber mallet, but it just won’t budge. Any tips for a newbie?

EL_ULY > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 19:09

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bigger hammer. Preferably, a short handle sledge. Don’t be scared and really swing hard at the control arm.

lone_liberal > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 19:10

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I don’t work on FWD stuff so take this with a HUGE grain of salt but on older RWD cars you can use a pickle fork either with a hammer or air chisel. There are other special tools for it out there too.

Pixel > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 19:16

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Hit the part of the knuckle that the ball joint fits into, you’re trying to crack the rust welding holding it in place, so feel free to hit it hard while someone else pries the lower control arm down.

I Will Always Be The Honey Badger > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 19:23

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That’s the factory tool.

Ball joints can be a pain. I tend to remove them by applying pressure with a big bar through the suspension components and hammering the control arm right where the ball joint is, but your results may vary. And possibly hazardous, so be careful.

Edit * Forget the rubber mallet. Use a real hammer on the control arm.

BigBlock440 > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 19:36

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BFH

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 20:14

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Pickle fork and 5lbs Maul. Smack it a few times to break the rust, then wedge the pickle fork in there and beat the end of it like the rented redheaded-stepchild mule that owes you money.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Luken10 08/27/2015 at 22:49

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A trick for the Civic - not sure if it works on Elantra, but it might: use a floor jack to push up on the bottom of the lower control arm. This creates a bit of a gap between the knuckle and the lower control arm. Slip something solid in there, like the handle of a socket. Wedge it in there, nice and tight, then, as quickly as possible, drop the jack. Because of the thing wedged in there, the spring/strut pushes the ball joint out. Might be worth looking on YouTube to see what I mean.

Luken10 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 08/27/2015 at 23:50

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Took me a little while to visualize what you meant. That actually sounds like a good idea! I’ll see if there is enough room to wedge something in there on the Elantra. Thank you!

Luken10 > lone_liberal 08/27/2015 at 23:52

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I have been looking up specialized tools. I had no idea! I believe autozone rents pickle forks for free, so I will most likely give that a shot. Thanks for the advice!

Luken10 > Pixel 08/27/2015 at 23:54

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I think I need a bigger hammer... The rubber mallet is pretty wimpy, and the only hammer we have is a household one for nails.

My real concern is not having enough room to get some force behind the hammer. We are working on jack stands, so we can’t hit it from directly underneath where it would be most convenient. Thanks for your advice!

Luken10 > EL_ULY 08/27/2015 at 23:56

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We are working on jack stands. I feel like I don’t have enough room to get some force behind it. Kind of restricted the area in the wheel well, and even then, the brake dust shield kind of gets in the way along with the tie rod.

This seems like everyone’s go to method. If the specialized tools don’t work, it’s time to get a bigger hammer! Thanks for the advice.

Luken10 > e36Jeff now drives a ZHP 08/27/2015 at 23:58

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Is a would the maul be metal or rubber? I know we can rent a pickle fork from autozone, but I feel like we are going to need a bigger hammer.

Luken10 > I Will Always Be The Honey Badger 08/28/2015 at 00:02

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That tool looks like the easiest method! Just to clarify, did you mean use a rubber or an actual metal hammer? I would prefer to use rubber just to keep the noise levels down, but maybe metal is necessary?

Also, where did you find that service manual? I found a Chilton manual in my local library, but it is borderline useless.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Luken10 08/28/2015 at 00:03

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Glad I can potentially help!

Luken10 > BigBlock440 08/28/2015 at 00:03

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Right now we only have a TAH. *Tiny ass hammer. Sounds like we are going to need to pick up something meatier tomorrow.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Luken10 08/28/2015 at 04:03

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Metal. In this application, there is nothing subtle about what you need to do, you are basically channeling your inner Clarkson and wailing on it.

Its honestly one of the better tools in my toolchest. Lets you hit with a force much greater than a hammer, but is small enough to use in an enclosed space that a sledge couldn’t get to. Its my go-to for anything that needs a few whacks to start working properly. The one I have is a metal head, and the metal extends down into the handle, so if you miss a bit you don’t have to worry about snapping the handle. I highly recommend finding one built like that. Its not this one, its a bit bigger than this, but similar construction:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Estwing-48-…

BigBlock440 > Luken10 08/28/2015 at 08:09

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Even using the fork, you’re going to need something to hit it with

Pixel > Luken10 08/28/2015 at 09:42

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You can use the construction hammer if that is what you’ve got. Try turn the wheel hard over to the side you are working on, that may expose more of the knuckle. Also if you have a big drift punch, or other solid chunk of steel you can put that against the knuckle and hammer on the other end.

Luken10 > lone_liberal 09/02/2015 at 01:15

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Just wanted to thank you for the pickle fork advice! Rented one from autozone and it worked perfectly. Took us less than a minute with the tool.

Luken10 > e36Jeff now drives a ZHP 09/02/2015 at 01:17

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Just wanted to thank you for the advice! The pickle fork worked perfectly. We were even able to do it with a household hammer with ease.

lone_liberal > Luken10 09/02/2015 at 12:23

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That’s great! Glad to be of some service.