What is the best way to get the old ball out of my steering arm so i can put a new one in. Do I need to cut off the ball and drill a hole in the stud to relieve some of the tightness. i have soaked it several times now. I made a remover out of 2" rectangular tubing and slotted the top to go around the ball and drilled a hole in the bottom of it and welded a 1/2 nut to it so I could use it to push the stud out. That is not working it is bending my bolt. might have to pull the whole arm and take it to work and put in a hydraulic press. If anyone knows a way to do it at home , I would sure appreciate the advice.

Thanks,

Oscar Shearer

 

Isn't your ball welded in? I've never done it but from what I've read it won't come easy. Neither will the end that's in the spindle.

Edit: if you do an advanced search on the the topic with posts by 4tl8Ford, I believe he did it.

 

Remove the arm to replace the ball. I did one last year. Take a grinder and flush up the back of the ball even with the arm. Then set it up in a shop press, it will take at least a 20 ton press

 

I just did this. The ball in the U shaped arm is swedged(mushroomed) in the hole. Remove the arm to work on it.
I drilled a 5/8 hole from the back about 1/2" to 3/4"deep. Ground flush. Held firmly in a good vise, heated the arm around the ball with torch and drove out with a drift punch and BFH. Still came out hard.

I would have used my press, but there is really no way to hold it square in the press.
I heated the arm again to press the new one in. Welded the back side.

 

Seems to me it might be easier to weld up any damaged areas and grind/reshape/polish the ball?

 

Upper pic...

 

I did that with the pitman arm ball, since it wasn't worn too bad. Spent countless hours grinding, filing, sanding to get it round. I won't do that again.

 

You really need a mirror finish on the ball or it won't last, will tear up the mating pieces in the drag link. I don't know how you'd do that at home.

Is the shank on the ball tapered or straight?

 

I ended up drilling out the old ball stud, and then having a professional welder wild in a new ball and stud. I know this probably wasn't optimum but it was the best I could come up with at that time. Haven't had and problems, after several years.

 

Had to pull the arm and take it to work. Put it in the press after grinding the bottom of the stud flush with the arm and it still took almost 10 tons of pressure to push it out. Then took almost 8 tons to seat the new ball. What a pain in the neck.

 

I'm not sure that I would be welding on a forged steel steering part. Here is a note from the millerwelds.com forum:
how to identify between cast steel and forged steel. & then the best way to weld it

And here is a thread from H.A.M.B.
Welding forged steel | The H.A.M.B.

It can be done but with extreme care and experience. The results of an error would be catastrophic.

 

They are welded at the factory. Or are you talking about welding up the ball itself to re-contour it?

 

There is a very specific pre-heat and cool down process as described in the links.