The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Ball joints with balls

This is on my BMW. I was trying to replace the ball joints this weekend and I couldn't get them to press out of the control arms. (I have a 12.5 ton H frame press) I even blew one of the joints out the back. Is there a proper procedure? I ended up just taking them to a machine shop because I didn't want to hurt myself or the rather expensive control arms.

The joints were rather floppy after 165,000 miles of rather spirited driving. The car is just too fun and reliable to get rid of, though.

There's a tool called a balljoint press, it has sleeves of various sizes. the sleeve fits over the joint so you are pressing against the joint body and not the ball stud.Perhaps a short length of pipe will work. BMW has the tool, most likely the price of a small Japanese car

When I switched out the ball studs from my AD steering arms, I found they had been swaged into the arms. While the bore for the ball stud is straight, the very bottom is chamfered. If the chamfer is not reamed out, the stud will not come out. I drilled a hole on dead center with a series of cobalt bits starting with a pilot on dead center then up to 3/8." The ball stud was about 1/2." At the last, I used a rotary file on a die grinder and slightly chamfered the bottom of the hole in the arm. Then the old ball stud punched right out without a struggle. Just make sure you don't overdrill the hole and it should work smooth. Perhaps the dam thing is threaded in. If so, nevermind.