I have been reading how difficult it is to get the ball joint out of the hub, and most people either give up and send to a garage, or spend hours with a club hammer hammering it on the top down etc.

Would an air hammer (see blow) or chisel do the job? Place it on the top and press the button?

SDS drill with a chisel?
. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Yes that would do the same job probably.

I have an air drill as above, but just wondered if it would be good to get the job done?

when i attempted to do mine I'd read lots of posts on here and elsewhere about it and it looked easiet to do by removing the hub form the car because access to the ball joint securing bolts is tricky as the CV joint is in the way and they are not hex bolts so can round off.

since i didn't want the car off the road in bits on the driveway I decided to practise so bought a spare used hub from ebay @ £25 (front right L322 hub anyone?) to practise getting the ball joint out. i have other tools such as pullers etc to get the CV splined shaft out.

getting a good swing with an impact driver onto the ball joint bolts is easy with the hub on the bench and even if the heads did round off, getting heat onto it would also be easy. so getting the ball joint out on the bench is straightforward.

i was ready for the live job but couldn't get the bolts loose that secure the strut to the hub, even with a 3 foot pipe. the nuts came loose easily but the bolts were rusted into the hub.

eventually just got a local indie to the whole job but I've since been shown that I could have used my TIG welder to heat the rusted bolt heads to loosen them and would definatley do that next time.

would have no hesitation attacking the job myself if it came along again. don't know about the air hammer but you would be hitting the cv boot and then you would need to take the hub off the car anyway.

really, take the hub off (if you can turn the bolts or get heat onto them) and it is so much easier.

Blimey.

Taking the hub off is a reasonable idea.

I guess I would need a puller to get the driveshaft out?

How do i get it back in a again? Push it through and then chuck the hub nut on the pull it through?

if fact you need a PUSHER to push the splined CV shaft out through the hub.

i bought one of these of ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Ton-Wheel-Hu...3413f642df

However, it won't fit fatty as standard because the dome on the puller compared to its central screw and compared to the fatty wheel stud lengths don't add up so i modded a set of fatty wheel nuts to use with it and now it fits just fine.

The proper LR job is £££££.

since I gave the job to an indie anyway the puller never got used and will lie around my garage forever taking up space without getting used at all unless someone wants a puller to suit fatty wheel studs?

when you have finished doing the ball joints you may need another tool (puller) to pull the cv shaft through the drive flange if its tight. my plan was to use 2 old CV nuts and weld them back to back. the nut has a small diameter section which is threaded internally and this would fit inside the drive flange and partially thread onto the cv shaft and when the socket on the other end was turned would pull it through. i didn't get around to doing this but couldn't see why it wouldn't work (or at least couldn't see how else this could be done if it didn't work! i.e. what does the real tool look like)? it may not need such a double ended nut or there may be sufficient thread poking through to just fit a single nut and pull it through.

We did the front end last month.

Spray everything with penetrating oil every day for the week preceeding the operation.

For the ball joint we found that removing the hub etc was the easiest route because with the assembly on the ground all the power of the hammer swing went into the ball joint and removed it with about 3 blows.

The drive shaft required no special tools a gentle tap onto the loosened nut had it free, and for replacement it 'wanted' to go back home.

For the strut bolts, get a jack under the hub carrier to take the 'stress' off the bolts otherwise they do not want to shift.

Complete whole of the front end parts replaced as I didn't want to spend time on replacing bushes into 'old' metal.

All new bolts/nuts and special washers used and a computer alignment done.

Right now, the l322 is back in the air and the whole of the rear end is being replaced both upper and lower complete wishbones and all link bars etc, again with all new bolts/nuts, special washers......

This might be more expensive on parts, but the saving on actual man hours more than justifies this end.

Plus, no frustrations about removing an old bush or three or four, and all the metal work is nice and black and rust free.

I am fortunate in that my daughter and her hubby have a commercial heavy garage, so I do have access to any tools that I can think of.

Best of luck.
Rich

Thanks all.

I guess if I take the hub off, I may as well get a new bearing pressed in?

Wise move, I'm about to do the same.  2007 Vogue TDV8 in Zermatt Silver with Charcoal

its way when you know how......

there is a knack. you will spend hours trying yo knock it out

its easier to knock the cap of the bottom smash/drill out the plastic ball and socket bits then cut the remaining ring part with a hack saw to release the fit.

it only seats on the first 3-4 mm above the flange. a hacksaw to cut though the ring gives it another couple of mm space and releases the grip on the hub and it will then smash out with a hammer and chisel.  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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