civicfan8

I sincerely thank all of your kind and very helpful suggestions! I finally got it off, FINALLY!

I found a very good forum @ honda-tech.com with pics of how axles are removed. With these pics AND all of your inspirations and suggestions, I finally decided to give hammering a try - again. I used a regular 1 lb hammer before and didn't pop it, so this time I used my only other hammer, a sledge hammer. I banged both sides of the LCA 3-4 times and out of my surprise, it popped!

I almost got myself a champange to celebrate this as I have tried pullers with no luck but simply hammering it did the trick. Amazing!

Now my only issue is the balljoint bolt has slightly striped threads but the castle nut can still be snugly tightened. The castle nut's threads were also slightly messed up. I am going to replace the castle nut. Should I worry about the damaged threads on the bolt? Should I replace the balljoint because of this?

Again, I thank you for all your wonderful posts. EXTREMELY helpful!

civicfan8 in San Francisco Bay Area

h22avid

If the threads are damaged to the point where you think the integrity of it's strength and holding power are concerned then I would replace it.

You'll have to get the whole steering knuckle off and take it somewhere where they have a ball joint press to remove it and replace it though.

Ball joints are a critical part of your suspension that I wouldn't take chances with. If that sucker decides to break while your on the freeway or something then it could prove fatal as you vilonetly loose control of your front end. Sorry for the grim answer but I prefer to play it safe.

Good luck!

:edit: BTW a ball joint will cost you about $30 at an Auto Parts store and about $50-60 for the OEM from the dealer

civicfan8

Thanks for your informative reply. I just replaced the axle on the other side and it took me only 30 minutes and a few big bangs on the LCA. I wasted a few days searching for a balljoint puller/tried but didn't work and messed up my threads on the balljoint bolt by following someone's idea of using a jack aimed at the balljoint bolt with the castle nut at the bottom of the balljoint bolt and ....it really screwed up the threads on the bolt before I knew it!

I wished I had known about the hammering back then. I was afraid those big bangs would damage something....but then I guess this is how I learned....

I will just take the car in to the dealer and have them replace the lower balljoint for me. You are absolutely right, I don't want to take chances, and I don't want to bet on the cotter pin at the bottom of that striped bolt either.....

Thanks again for your kind reply.

civicfan8