[Vwdiesel] Help-Ball Joint

[Roger Brown]

Val Christian wrote:
> Problem remaining:
>
>         -ball joint not separated from steering knuckle.  No pickle
>         fork.  But I really don't want to use one.  The ball joint is
>         fine, and I don't want to replace it.  Can't find stand-alone
>         ball joint boots.
>
> So does anyone have any ideas I should consider for separating the
> ball joint from the steering knuckle, without damaging the boot?
>
> I tried sandwiching in a tire iron, and then using the weight of the
> car to lever the tire iron, resting on a jackstand.  I figure quite
> a bit of force (10K lbs?).  It mostly bent the metal on the lower
> control arm.
>
> I'm getting ready to use heat, but I'd rather not.

You have removed the bolt in the ball joint clamp, right?

You might try a large flat bladed screwdriver, driven into the gap in the clamp to spread it open a little and if its rusted,
some PB Blaster or similar applied and allowed to soak in for a few hours.

--
    Roger