so my lower control arm ball joint separated from the arm and is "stuck" in the wheel hub assembly, I have a replacement arm scheduled to arrive today but I cannot for the life of me get the knuckle (#4) out of the wheel assembly (right next to the letter "A") and yes I rented the ball joint press.

I read through a similar thread but the guy too his car to a shop and never mentioned having a problem removing the knuckle.

Anyone have any ideas or experience with this?

 

Dude, just bang that **** out. BFH FTW.

 

Can you get a pickle fork or even a claw hammer or something around it to pry it off

 

yeah, did that.....about to get the 5lb slegde

I thought of that but I dont want to crack the cast wheel assembly

 

Does it move up and down, maybe you could cut it off.... very carefully

 

no the thing is stuck like chuck.....in the service manual you can test it with a 6mm allen for rotation resistence (not sure why but that is about as detail as the manual goes). tried that and not a damn thing

I cant really cut it off becuase I would be left with a plugged hole

I am about to bust out the propane torch, heat it up and see what happens (kind of like an old rusty bolt/nut).

 

I see you need to push it up and get it all out. I thought the ball was to remain and you needed to remove the ring in the photo.

I think plenty of WD40 and hit it with a hammer also hit it from the side and top to help crack the seal and then the torch and try it all again. It will come out eventually you just have to figure out how.

Maybe when you get the new part you can remove the nuckle and use the knuckle that is currently on the car

 

Use a proper puller....and heat up the spindle a bit...

put good pressure on the puller, if it doesn't pop off....heat up the spindle area...and give it a whack on the side of the spindle and it should pop off

 

I would remove the whole knuckle and get it on a bench man. With some leverage and a sledge it will come out. You should have been at the house when we replaced the calipers brackets on 8 Maniac's Audi S4. The Porsche BBK had basically became a part of the car. Three or four of us beat on it with a 5lb sledge for a couple of hours before it surrendered

 

so I have a press similar to this, do I have the wrong tool?

I just heated it up and wacked on it a little, nothing, I put LPS on it the last day or so

 

oh thanks for the moral support Scott!!!

guess I will see about getting this badboy off the car, I was trying to avoid removing the steering ball joint

 

5lb sledge hammer did the trick!!!

thanks guys

 

yeah! Finally

 

here's another idea:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/what-belongs-diy-forum-163653/

 

damn it, got me again.

 

noted!

 

glad you were able to resolve it

a hammer is sufficient in your case since the arm/ball joint separated, but you do not want to do this or use the wrong tool if you intend to reuse the a-arm assembly. It's very easy to damage the threaded end of the ball joint (ask me how I know).

This is the tool I use. It is intended for tie rod ends but worked very well for me on the RX-8 ball joints:

http://www.amazon.com/OTC-7315A-Univ.../dp/B000F5LJ3M

 

^ Cool tool.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kBqrHphjo

 

from the research the arm was not reusable (if I am wrong I prefer to live in my ignorance....ha-ha jk)

That tool looks like a good one but hopefully it will be quite some time until I need this again.

Thanks for direction it is much appreciated.

by the way.....perfect vid

 

i like ur sig team

 

どういたしまして

 

The attached pdf is for a 04 rx-8 and it shows that the metal bushings (33-022) are serviceable in the rear hub. These bushings are no longer available from Mazda.
I pulled one of the bushing out when the link was removed.
I guess I need a new rear hub like the factory workshop manual states.
Anyone know why these bushings are no longer available?
Must have been some problems with pressing in new ones I assume.

 

なぜ日本語で突然のチームに書くか。(poorly translated I know)

 

No, just reinstall the bushing. It should slide right back in.