I have managed to tick another job off the list and have replaced all the front suspension arms and balljoints (bought from Advanced Factors as a kit of all parts required).

I am aware from previous posts that removal of the ball joint which is pressed in to the fromt knuckle can be a problem - an so it was.

Everything else came apart reasonably easily for age and mileage but having tried with pnuematic chisel fitted with long punch from above and pnuematic chisel to try and part the joint from the knuckle I decided to try a different way.

The most effective way, I decided, would be to pull using the threads of the joint (M14 x 1.5) to pull perpendicular to the mounting face.

I made a saddle from 3 pieces of steel to sit either side of the joint (sawn and welded - pillar drill for the clearance hole) and drilled and tapped some 20mm bar with the M14 x 1.5 thread. Threaded the other end for 20mm nut. I have the luxury of a hollow 700BAR hydraulic ram (but it might have been easier because of clearance issues to just use a standard puller thrust race and nut) and hey presto a couple of pumps of the hydraulic pump and it came straight out.

Had to make a 'saddle' for LH and RH side as obviously handed but and hour of fabrication saved hours of frustration.

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That looks a nice set up to pull the ball joint out.
It's nice to have a fully kitted out workshop !

From the many posts others have made about what can be a nightmare of a job, I think I remember somebody did something similar & pulled the "knuckle" out of the ball joint housing.
However, even then, you're no worse off & can probably attack the housing better when you've got nothing inside to resist an attack from above.

We probably need you making us all more special tools - there's always demand - lol Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 145,000 miles & climbing
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk

I like the saddles a lot!
I've used long throw air hammers with a puller attachment but that looks much more controllable, especially if you already have a PortaPower

Nice tools, like the jack stands!
Funnily enough I did similar ball joint removal last week. Nothing quite so elaborate though.
Must admit I started with an air hammer from above and chisel from the side but you can't get on it square from above and chisel was just deforming the ball joint.
So I cut knotches out of a close fitting puller cup from a £30-£40 readly available from Ebay Ball Joint Press Kit so it cleared the ears of the ball joint and sat flush on the knuckle.
No need for hydraulic puller just use the same original nut to pull it out, ideally it wants a thrust race in between otherwise it chews up the cup especially given they are cheap steel.
Just google Subaru ball joint puller which is a similar idea but probably different size and without notches cut out the bottom.
I used a bit of heat on the knuckle/ball joint from an induction heater to help a bit and both ball joints came out fairly easy with use of an impact gun. It saves having to strip everything down and pulls it out square which is probbaly half the battle for easy removal.
The ball joints were likely original, 20+ year old too, so probbaly worse case scenario.

It took me three hours of pounding, each side, a propane torch and ALOT of WD40.
Performing the job on jack stands and on my knees didn't make the job any easier, and i couldn't feel my toes when I was done.
Managed to get a tiny pinhole in the CV-joint boot as well, so I needed to change that as well, but having the job done and dusted felt really awesome.
Next time I'd probably go at it using brains not brawns, but hey.. That's what I always say.

Neat bit of kit there Wiltshire.