best place to buy special tools?

[Kurt Deschler]

I use a pitman arm puller to remove the tie rod ends on my 200 and S6. It 
costs around $15 at FLAPS and removes the ends effortlessly with no 
damage. For the ball joints, I spray them with penetrating oil, then wedge 
a screwdriver in the slot to spread it slightly. Place a 3-ft pipe between 
the swaybar and subframe and give it a good kick downward. Getting the 
ball join back in is a PITA but with the pipe positioned in the same 
place, you can sit on it to push the control arm down while you align the 
ball joint and push in the strut. Watch your fingers as you are dealing 
with substantial spring tension.

 	-Kurt

> Message: 7
> Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 17:22:40 -0700
> From: John Larson <j.d.larson at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: best place to buy special tools?
> To: audi at humanspeakers.com,  quattro at audifans.com
> Message-ID: <446A6CD0.8060903 at verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Huw wrote:  "Not familiar with the A4 setup, but a pry bar can work.  A
> lot depends
> on whether you want to reuse the ball joint in question, of course.
>
> I once upon a time picked up an air hammer kit at Sears or Home Depot or
> such like, only about $20-30 or so, came with a chisel for cutting, one
> or two weird tools, and a pickle fork thing that should be good for ball
> joints.  Of course, you need compressed air to work it..."
>
> -- Huw Powell
>
> A4 ball joints aren't a taper fit.  The tie rod ends are, but are easily
> removed with a substantial prybar and a BFH. You NEVER want to use a
> pickle fork as you'll destroy the boots, and a lot of the pieces are
> aluminum, something a pickle fork would not be gentle with. The prybar
> method requires loading the joint with the bar and smartly striking the
> part into which the tapered end fits. John