Hey everyone, It's been a real joy try removing this b*tch lol. I've broken two breaker bars and a reducer removing the rotor guide bolts, and have the upper ball joint along with the steering disconnected. The lower ball joint's bolt came off fine, but I cannot for the life of me get it to let go. I've doused it repeatedly with pb blaster, and slammed hammers to it for hours and I cannot get it to break free! I would like to save the ball joint if possible, but at this point I feel like grinding it off. As always I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance!

 

I had this problem when replacing the lower ball joints & arms last year-the nut came off alright but I could not break the taper to release the joint from the vertical link/hub assembly.

I went through a couple of ball joint splitters, tried hammers & even a blowtorch-but nothing worked. Eventually I had to saw off the exposed threaded shank & then lie underneath the car & drill upwards into the taper with a Titanium drill bit to weaken it-at which point it finally came out. The joint was damaged during removal but it didn't matter as I was replacing it anyway.

But it was a absolute pig of a job & not something I want to do again for a long time.

 

I replaced my front left knuckle a few weeks ago. I used PB Blaster liberally and a 3 lb sledge to remove it. A smaller hammer may not work if it is really stuck.
Aim the hammer to the housing (on the knuckle) around the tapered part of the ball joint shaft. 2-3 solid hits for me popped it loose.
If you haven't already done so, you probably will want to loosely reattach the top ball joint just to keep any binding pressure off the lower as well.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

The trick with hammers is two hammers.

One to strike and the other as the anvil on the other side.