In a message dated 10/5/02 8:25:21 PM, jwetzel@EPHARMALEARNING.COM writes: << I read Tom Carrington's description of how to remove the upper ball joints and performed the procedure as he described. >> Jim, You can tell what kind of a mechanic a man is just by looking at his pickle fork. If it is burnished from being handled thousand of times and the edges of the fork are slightly eased, the guy knows what he is doing. However, if the shank is curved and the fork is all boogered up, its owner subscribes to the get-me-a-bigger-hammer school of mechanical arts. I just looked at the procedure which you mentioned. It errors in saying to slug away at the pickle fork with impunity. Rather than brute force, try some finesse. First make sure the fork you are using is sized to the ball joint. Also make sure the faces of the working end are in good trim; if not, dress them. Tap the pickle fork into place until it has a purchase. Then, while levering the fork, rap the knuckle smartly with a hard-faced hammer right along side of the tapered hole. The impulse and vibration of this well-placed smack should cause the socket to release its grasp. George |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.