Air hammer for removing ball joints

veektor · Post by **veektor** » 09 Apr 2019, 12:21

I decided to replace the control arms because the original bushings are falling apart. The lower ball joints looked really sad with the ripped boots, so I decided to replace those as well. I'm glad that someone had mentioned using an air hammer to remove the ball joints from the knuckle. I started by using a regular chisel and hammer, and quickly noped out of that business. It may have taken me an hour to drive to Harbor Freight, but that was time better spent than figuring out how to hold the knuckle still while trying to drive the chisel with a hammer.

There was a little damage to the knuckle, as it is aluminum, after all. Cleaned it up the best I could with a file. I was really glad the new Lemfoeder ball joint didn't give me any trouble going back into the knuckle. I think it may be even possible to replace the ball joint on the other side without removing the knuckle completely.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 09 Apr 2019, 13:10

Autozone has Ball Joint Installer/Remover Tool sets in their Tool Loan program.

veektor · Post by **veektor** » 10 Apr 2019, 08:23

I've used the loaner ball joint tool for F150 lower ball joints. The tool is essentially a big C-clamp with pipe-like adapters, using push action to press joints out, then back in. I considered getting the tool for pressing the Volvo ball joint in, but wasn't sure how I would approach the removal part. Maybe there is a video or some pics of the removal process for Volvo that I had missed. In my defense, I have two cars on the jackstands in my driveway right now, and my attention may be rather scattered as I'm desperately trying to get them both back onto their own wheels.