Well reassembly infinitely easier than dismantling. I'm about knackered for today but going to jack up and soak everything ready for tomorrow for doing the near-side.

Did nearside today. What took me off and on 3 days to do off side (probably a total of about 5-6 hrs) took me only 1.5hrs to do near side. Very satisfying and a lot easier when you know what your doing

First of all many thanks to all contributors for sharing their experiences. Very helpfull in diagnosing and tackle the job.
Had a rattle every time I hit a pothole. MOT (Pickerl in Austria ) didn't find the cause, neither myself. No play on the ball joint!! even not on the MOT friction plates! Only to discover a worn ball joint after splitting it from the arm (to press in new bushes). So ordered these ball joints (Lemförder) and did the job this week on an afternoon. Had WD40 on it in the days before. Since the Torx 50 bolts are very hard to get loose I bought a decent Hazet Torx 50 socket and used my impact wrench on a very low pressure (max 4,5 BAR) to "hammer" it loose. Very important: low pressure!! It's only to "cut"te rust by vibrating so alternately convert the direction (1 sec R, 1 sec to L). Four bolts came loose easily without damaging anything.
Getting the ball joint out: removed most of the rust by wire brush and used a lot of WD40. Using the chisel on the ears did the job. Be carefull not to seize the ball joint in it's seating so alternate frequently between the two ears.
All done in situ (only removed caliper, disc and heat shield). Both sides took about 3 hours including tea break.
Very happy with a smooth ride again

Please don't use an air chisel on your ears, the noise alone will be very harmful lol!

Just started the same job on my L322. Great tip here about using an air chisel on the ears of the ball joint to get it out. Took about 1/2 hour, going steady with the chisel on both ears and out it came. My RR is an 05 with nearly 200k miles, so replacing both arms and the steady bar, both sides - that’s 6 control arms and 8 ball joints - although not all ball joints are created equal !

Parts not too expensive, just bloody hard work to get it done - so far only one arm and one ball joint replaced and I’m about 5 hours in. Also, using Plusgas as the release agent, not WD40.

Also doing a gearbox oil change as about 70k miles since last changed.

Watch this from about 3:45 in. It’ll make you cry! 🤣
?si=oF5ojw1Ao2HCX9Cy Andy

2010 4.4TDV8 Vogue SE in Santorini Black with Ivory interior
2017 Audi SQ5 3.0 V6T Quattro in Volcano Red
2001 Audi Allroad 2.5 TDI manual with low-range in Highland Green. Currently SORN whilst undergoing some serious restoration!

I did this job over the weekend. I cannot emphasise enough how much of a pig this job is. I had to get medieval on mine and basically bashed the hell out of the ball joint from above with a pointed chisel and a lump hammer. It took what felt like forever, but I think I was 60-90 mins going at each one.

Getting the wings to detach ever so slightly seemed to help (though this could’ve been entirely a placebo) and it took what seemed like forever to get the thing to start budging. However, once I could see that there was a slight gap appearing between the flange of the ball joint and the hub, it was just a matter of getting good contact and keeping going.

My top tips:
- lump hammer a must.
- chisel can’t be too long or the wheel arch gets gets in the way of a good swing.
- axle stand to support hub weight and ensure full force of hammer blows going into ball joint.
- fewer quality impacts much more effective than more impacts that get wasted. Take the time to position chisel properly. Don’t waste your energy taking swings that are wasted.
- spray, respray, and respray again with good quality penetrating fluid.

Good luck!! Andy

2010 4.4TDV8 Vogue SE in Santorini Black with Ivory interior
2017 Audi SQ5 3.0 V6T Quattro in Volcano Red
2001 Audi Allroad 2.5 TDI manual with low-range in Highland Green. Currently SORN whilst undergoing some serious restoration!

I notice on the linked YouTube video a) how clean the ball joints are - can't have been in the knuckle that long and b) dry climate

For those of us in the UK and the rest of Western Europe, unfortunately road grime, salt and whatever else practically welds anything on the underside of these cars.

Mine were done in the summer. Observations:

- the lower control arms aren't too difficult to get undone. You'll definitely need a good impact wrench or air wrench to get the bush bolt undone though
- heat is your friend
- if your torx screws are so far gone, there's no chance of getting them out. The heads of 4 out of the 6 screws (3 each side) had basically turned into cheese. No amount of gently gently would help. In this scenario, unfortunately, it's knuckle off and either weld a nut or pillar drill them out so that the holes can be re-threaded
- popping the driveshaft out will give you much more room
- there's no reason a Pitman arm puller or a ball joint splitter won't help in this scenario
- using brake fluid and acetone to eat away and loosen the ball joint is a wise move
- I'd have liked to try my SDS on hammer function - somehow I feel like it may have made light work 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

As I mentioned in a related post I did the driver's side this weekend.

The worst job I have ever done on any car. Ever

In the end, we had to gut the ball joint and press it out using a homemade device involving a threaded bar, and simply wound it down and out.

My car´s been in Spain for 50% of its life, my hopes of it being a relatively simple job had long since disappeared by the 6th hour of hammering at the ball joint.

But the job is done and well worth it

Click image to enlarge

WOW! I thought I had a bad time with mine but you seem to have won this thread with 6 hrs!!

This was the state of mine once out, no need (thankfully) to gut them and press out like you…

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Just done one side took most of the day. rear arm got sorted with air chisel (wear ear muffs).
For me what really took the time was the front arm ball joint, had to alter a splitter to give it wider jaws and pop.