splitting bottom ball joints

[mattpone]

I've stupidly decided to replace my knackered top front control arm myself, having now spent over 10 hours freeing the top ball joints (after much swearing and finally drilling the whole bolt out!) I now cant get the rear bottom ball joint to separate as neither of my ball joint splitters will fit?

Any advice appreciated??

Why didnt Audi put the bottom strut bolt in the other way round to save removing the rear bottom arm?? Grrrr

[sr-performance]

Hi mate,
Use a big bar to put pressure down on ball joint and hit the side of the ball joint with a big hammer, easier with someone helping though...:beerchug:

[mattpone]

Thanks - brute force and ignorance is gonna have to be the order of the day i guess - just need to avoid knackering any other suspension components in the process otherwise this is gonna get expensive!

[npellew]

Agree to the large hammer but better to put an even heavier sold object the other side. This sometimes works without even loading the bolt as it does squeeze the taper.

[fender]

hey guys. I had the same problem with just one suspension arm. I decided to change it, dropping the suspension etc .As the weeks went by i began to feel movement on another 2 of the suspension arms and ended up changing all of them on that side. If one goes the other arms maybe ready to go. might be a good idea to change them all.

[mattpone]

yeah im worried the others wont be far behind but cash is tight right now so need to patch her up until I have more cash, but i will make sure i copper grease everything when it goes back together so i dont have all these issues next time (thats if I ever get the bloody bottom balljoint off!) :D

[mattpone]

good news - big bar and hammer worked!

bad news - after removing the strut, Ive found the strut top carrier has cracked! Not sure if its due to the knackered suspension or if ive been too brutal when trying to remove other parts?

looks like its gonna be off the road for even longer while i try and source a replacement! hmmm-ho the joy...

[Pete@ECSTuning]

good news - big bar and hammer worked!

bad news - after removing the strut, Ive found the strut top carrier has cracked! Not sure if its due to the knackered suspension or if ive been too brutal when trying to remove other parts?

looks like its gonna be off the road for even longer while i try and source a replacement! hmmm-ho the joy...

If you need to source parts, we have all the control arms and bushings you would need, including the upper strut:
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-Quattro-1.8T/Suspension/OEM/ ?salesrep=CArmbruster&utm_source=vwaudiworld&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=CArmbruster&utm_campaign=postreply