Well what a complete b***rd of a job this was!!!😵

This is the ball joint with the 2 torx bolts that connects to the upper arm on the front suspension. Having read a few threads about it I was feeling pretty well prepped and counted on maybe a couple of hours job - how wrong could I be?!

Jack and axle stand in place and a further jack to support the lower arm - ball joint itself was the usual tussle but not too disastrous - torx bolts came out great without rounding, easy peasy I thinks.....but could I get the bl**dy thing out of the knuckle. In other threads people talk about hitting from above with a conical drift. Tried that, but couldnt get a very good angle on it and no room to swing the tapometer. After circa 3 hours of hitting, angle grinding, lubing, freezing and heating, this is what I was left with.



At this point I gave up and decided to sleep on it, but was seriously considering whether I needed to strip the hub and whole knuckle off so I could get a straight hit on it. Having slept on it, and let it soak overnight, it was still bl**dy tight, so I went for a more scientific approach, and gently tapped a sharpened wallpaper scraper in underneath the wings - at last a tiny bit of movement! Then using progressively bigger old screwdrivers I kept working it until hey presto! Out it popped - I reckon total hammering time must have been about 5 hours and I felt like I'd done ten rounds in the ring the next day...!

So here is what was left...



And here is the toolkit I used (never throw away an old screwdriver!)...excluding the angle grinder, drill, blowtorch and freeze spray!




Cleaned up the hole with wetndry and wire wood, and put a smear of grease in too.

Now I just need to summon the courage to do the other side!

Welcome to the forum... they do make them a bit tight... hope the other side is easier for you... I used an air chisel...  Pete

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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Aye Pete been lurking about for a while - decided to post this in hope it helps someone else.

Feeling a bit more confident about the other side - getting it started under the 'wings' was deffo the way to go. Bizarrely air chisel is the only thing I didn't try!

Air chisels always good where you can't swing a club hammer...  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Good write up. Thanks for info, no doubt it will come in handy at some stage.

Real b d of a job. Always make sure you have new torx bolts to hand for refitting.
But well done.