Eddie,
Two things it took me way to long to learn:
Spray the joint down with penatrating oil the night before
popping it off.
Use a 4# sledge hammer (12" handle) and WHACK that pickle fork.
I had used a 1# hammer for years, finally noticed a friend would
pop those suckers loose with a one or two blows with the 4# hammer.
Cheers,
Tom
Eddie wrote:
> I bought a pickle fork from Sears Craftman. But my problem was that I wasn't
>using the tool
> properly.
>
> I was using the pickle fork as a "prying" tool. I pounded the fork in
>horizontally and then tried
> to pop the ball joints off by applying a "vertical" force on the pickle fork.
>WRONG!
>
> All it took was pounding the pickle fork (horizontally) into the ball joint.
> and it popped free!
>
>
> good luck!
>
>
> --- Pam & Paul Bauman <plhbauman@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>Fred:
>>
>>A pickle fork works great, but don't skimp on quality. I went through a
>>couple of ball-joint separators before getting a quality tool for about $20
>>that popped everything apart with no problems.
>>
>>Paul
>>
>>
>>
>>>Howdy all!
>>>
>>>How do I separate ball joints and tie rod ends without damaging them?
>>>The only way I know is to beat them apart with a pickle fork. They are
>>>all good (only the seals need to be replaced) and I don't want to damage
>>>them during disassembly.
>>>
>>>--
>>>Best regards,
>>>
>>>Fred Schroeder
>>>Denison, TX
>>>'70 SRL311-13359
>>>
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