Can't get the lower ball joint off!

Hi all,

02 Td4 S. I've bought a ball joint for the LF lower control arm. Various threads on here describe grinding off the rivets, so I've ground one down flush with the arm, but it won't press or hammer out. Do the rivets only come out one way? I'm attacking the bottom edge. I've tried drilling too, but they're hard as b*ggery. Do I just need to try harder or am I doing it wrong?

Cheers

When I did mine..... Ground all the rivets down ..... Gave the ball joint a whack with the hammer and off it came

The rivets are a very tight fit in the ball joint. I use a 3Lb club hammer and parallel punch, making sure that the arm is well supported. They will come out but require some persuasion.

The rivet heads are dimpled in the centre. Use a 4mm HSS drill first followed with an 8.5mm.
Don't run at high speed, it will burn the drill tip and if possible use a pillar drilling machine and ideally a cutting compound or at a push, ordinary engine oil to keep the drill cool.

Make sure the new ball joint will fit first. Some of the arms are thicker than others.

Always support the arm or when you hit it ,it will just bounce away and you can hit it fo r ever more and you will make no difference

I think that would be just a tad over doing it that way

teddywood1 said:

I think that would be just a tad over doing it that way

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Yeahh I thought the military fatigues were too much as well.

Thanks everyone. I think I need a bigger hammer - just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something stupid.