Best control arm seperator for lowers?

[Bloomquist]

Whats the best control arm seperator for b7s? I havent found one that will fit the lowers.

What are you using sucessfully?

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[Jeevan]

pickel fork with hammer from Harbor freight or use punch and hammer combo if you want to reuse


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[Bloomquist]

pickel fork with hammer from Harbor freight or use punch and hammer combo if you want to reuse

BFH and a punch. Add heat if things get real greasy.

So I tried a pickle fork last night wit ha 2.5lb hammer and wasnt able to get them separated just ruined the boots.

What punch are you using? As for heat are you just heating the bottom of the spindle where the threads of the arm come thru?

[Jeevan]

So I tried a pickle fork last night wit ha 2.5lb hammer and wasnt able to get them separated just ruined the boots.

What punch are you using? As for heat are you just heating the bottom of the spindle where the threads of the arm come thru?

using heat is not a good idea as per Audi. These knuckles have some spring like tension which helps to hold knuckles in place once they are plugged in.

more tips

load the suspension from the bottom, as you already destroyed boots you can hit the control arms with hammer from bottom to release the ball joint. You can use any punch you can fit in ball joint spindle.


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[Bloomquist]

using heat is not a good idea as per Audi. These knuckles have some spring like tension which helps to hold knuckles in place once they are plugged in.

more tips

load the suspension from the bottom, as you already destroyed boots you can hit the control arms with hammer from bottom to release the ball joint. You can use any punch you can fit in ball joint spindle.


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awesome! thank you Jeevan!

Last question, Im assuming it is easier to remove the front lower first then while it is out access the rear lower, since it connects from the bottom up? Is this the best method?

Thanks again for the help! Looking to tackle this *again* here asap.

[Gosser]

BFH and a punch. Add heat if things get real greasy.

[Gosser]

anything that looks like this usually:


Audi also recommends replacing ever suspension, CV axle, subframe bolt once they are removed. I, among many, do not.

I've used torches on pinch bolts all day long, for some as 5 years ago and still no issue with the aluminum. As long as you arent sitting there for 10 minutes with heat it'll be fine. Also I'm sure people over torque these the pinch bolts which causes the pinch to crack, they only need 30 foot pounds. Once I've successfully extracted a pinch bolt; I remove, clean, lube them every tire change. Doesnt help with the ball joint situation though. If they are being real stubborn, I would just remove the entire knuckle with the lower arms still attached. Get it properly supported and leverage with a good whack from a 5lbs sledge. This means dealing with the inner bushing bolts, but those dont come out easy either sometimes. Get the lube out for sure, or angle grinder.

[Bloomquist]

They came out pretty nicely after a day of soaking in PB. However the problem one still was a hassle and brought the sleeve out with it. Which I then had to cut off the arm, seperate with a 20ton press, then press back into the spindle with a ball joint press.

Oh the fun we have.

Thanks for the help!



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[wding2000]

This would have been much easier, even though you have to grind the opening wider to fit in LCA.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qu...oint+separator

[Bloomquist]

This would have been much easier, even though you have to grind the opening wider to fit in LCA.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qu...oint+separator

Thats basically what I used on the other 3. Looked like this one, was cast aluminum and the arm was similarly round. It had problems with this one arm because is bent the end of the head of the threads to the CA then just kept slipping off when you tightened the separator.




Wish I had known sooner! you like the HF one wding2000?

[wding2000]

Yours is probably better, but HF one works (after grinding) and it is cheap

[audilove3]

i still dont get what happened. what happened to the tool actually doing the work?

[Bloomquist]

i still dont get what happened. what happened to the tool actually doing the work?

those tools dont properly fit. if you saw wding2000 also had to modify his to work with the lowers, as posted above the tool did work on three joints but on one it pushed the whole sleeve out with it.

[audilove3]

so basicallly it didnt work on all 4, 3 did not fit and 1 even worse busted out its sleeve. so which TOOL are we going best with? I might have to do this repair on a set of jack stands and not sure how im gonna torque it to specs but I def do need one side of the lower front control arm replaced because it went from a ( to a V

[Bloomquist]

so basicallly it didnt work on all 4, 3 did not fit and 1 even worse busted out its sleeve.

No it worked on 3 after they had soaked in pb just fine. The one it pushed out with the sleeve was the one that started giving me problems the first attempt. Since it got mangled by the tool the first try. Since the tool doesnt fit exactly right if you dont get it straight it can bend bolt coming out of the CA. If that happens your screwed bc it will never line up properly in line and the tool will just keep slipping off. So then you need to use a BFH.


Point is get a tool that seats as well as you can. Potential modify it to do so better (I couldnt do since I was renting the tool).

Let it soak in pb blaster for a night then go at it. Just make sure to keep the puller as perpendicular to the bolt as you can.

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[audilove3]

thank you for the clairification. did u use a lift or jack stands. i think i might just pay the 180 in labor and bring the one front lower arm in to be replaced. the boot is also torn on the axle. should i just replace or let the boot go, i was thinking since im in for the 180 pay another 180 for the labor on the axle and bring the used axle and new hardware and be done with it. thank you for the time. G

[Jayz691]

thank you for the clairification. did u use a lift or jack stands. i think i might just pay the 180 in labor and bring the one front lower arm in to be replaced. the boot is also torn on the axle. should i just replace or let the boot go, i was thinking since im in for the 180 pay another 180 for the labor on the axle and bring the used axle and new hardware and be done with it. thank you for the time. G

If its just a torn boot, you can get a GKN(oe) boot kit for under $20. Comes with clamps, grease, and circlips. Just did my inner one not too long ago. Not hard, just messy. Takes literally 15-20 to pull axle off.

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[audilove3]

If its just a torn boot, you can get a GKN(oe) boot kit for under $20. Comes with clamps, grease, and circlips. Just did my inner one not too long ago. Not hard, just messy. Takes literally 15-20 to pull axle off.

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to pull the boot off the axle and not to pull the axle off the car to replace. ok ill look into buying those things for the mechanic to swap. by any chance do you have link to the boot kit?

[aluthman]

Use the HF ball joint separator and grind the opening larger to fit. You may also have luck just hitting the side of the knuckle with a good air hammer to shock them loose.