Well folks, as usual my RR turns what should be a simple job into an absolute disaster

Yesterday morning I started to replace the drivers side control arms and bottom ball joint pre MOT as the upper and lower arms were clunking and rattling. Both arms came off with a bit of enthusiastic persuasion, happy days says I, however the bottom ball joint refused to budge so I soaked it yesterday evening with penetrating fluid and left it until this evening to try again.

I have battered the absolute out of it with a 5lb hammer and bar, tried my air hammer and my SDS hammer, all of which have failed badly and to add insult to injury I have just knicked the cv boot, so it now needs replacing

For the love of god PLEASE someone enlighten me as to what else I can do to get this of a thing out before I end up bald and in a mental institution  Current collection :

2007 Vogue TDV8 Stornoway grey, black on black
1982 JCB Sitemaster (resto)
1970 MGB
BMW R1200GS

Buy a ball joint splitter sir... The heavier the better

See this thread, some measurements on there so you can try to figure out if it will fit the L322:

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic67045.html

Good luck!  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

https://workshop-manuals.com/landrover/ran...ter_usage/

This is the link for my own 5.0L machine and the ball joint topic.

Select your machine correctly and you should find similar.

JLR L322 tool looks to be the same one as for the L405, anyone got both part numbers?
Or, is it the same number?

In which case, the US Pro tool should fit both. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

Thanks for the replies guys. I have both arms freed and left loosely attached but if you look at these photos that I've nicked from another site you'll see the ball joint I'm currently battling with. I'm gonna try and get the whole hub knuckle off tomorrow as I now have to change the CV boot anyway. Once I get it off that ball joint will be coming out!!!

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

To get sufficient access, you need to remove the driveshaft. Thereafter, it's sheer brute force.

You can use a jack to raise the knuckle to a more level height to aid removal.

You didn't mention having used any heat? In my experience, using a torch and then quickly cooling with some more penetrating fluid, followed by a nice big whack is the key to getting some of this stuff undone.

Acetone and paraffin is also a releasing agent preferred by some. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Heat is you friend with interference fits. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I smashed the innards out then used a hacksaw to make 2 slots in the carrier. Fell out easy then. 2007 3.6 TDV8
1979 Mini Special
1988 Yamaha FJ1200
!952 BSA Gold Flash

You need a solid support going down to the ground or it will just vibrate when you hit it.

Thanks again to everyone for all of your advice.

Between the ball joint and the two hub mounting bolts I spent the guts of three hours this morning with the blow torch, air hammer and 5lb lump hammer before the all eventually came out. Talk about rusted solid 🥵

Click image to enlarge

Mount that on a wooden stand and keep it on your desk! 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

So I got the passenger side arms, knuckle mounting bolts and both half shaft retaining nuts all undone handily enough this afternoon so the next job was to split the half shaft from the knuckle. Boy does that thing feel like it's welded solid and that's using a newly bought heavy duty hub splitter.

As I couldn't get it to budge I called it a day, soaked the splines with penetrating fluid and have left the hub splitter in place with a bit of force pushing against the end of the half shaft as you can see 👇🏻

Click image to enlarge

I did those ball joints on my old 4.2 in the press and they were a doddle. I did them last week on my 5.0 with the hub on the car and it was a right pain to do. I almost got as far as taking the hub off the car to do it but persevered.

I used a long steel drift that was long enough to allow me to hit it from above the height of the caliper, it was a solid lump of steel. I then used a lump hammer and after repeatedly beating it, it eventually came free.

I really wished our induction heater hadn’t packed in as that would’ve made a big difference to getting them out.

It does seem that when the hub is on the car it’s just brute force and ignorance to remove them.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2007 Range Rover Supercharged in Java Black with Ivory Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

I don’t think I have ever done a more PIA job than that bottom ball joint so to make life a whole lot easier on the passenger side I’m removing the hub this time so that I can easily get heat at it and hammer it directly from above instead of having to hammer with very little space or melting the CV boot with the blow torch 😤

Plus with both hubs off, getting the two new ball joints back in should be a whole lot easier process too 🙏🏻 Current collection :

2007 Vogue TDV8 Stornoway grey, black on black
1982 JCB Sitemaster (resto)
1970 MGB
BMW R1200GS