Lower ball joint seems stuck on 2003 Town Car

Question

I'm having a go at my car's ball joints. I got the knuckle off without too much trouble, but now that I am trying to press out the lower ball joint, I seem to be getting nowhere. I have a press, with the screw pressing down on the "top" of the ball joint, with a cup pressing against the control arm from below. At a certain point, I cannot turn the screw on the press no matter what, and the ball joint hasn't moved one bit.

As far as I can tell, this is the correct arrangement; it matches both the diagram provided in the packaging in the press, as well as a document for a 2010 crown victoria, which I understand to have the same suspension (and it sure looks like it):

I am certain I have removed the snap ring, and everything else looks to be correct. Am I misunderstanding anything about how the ball joint press works? Is there some step I am missing? Am I misunderstanding how much force I need?

mikes · Answer

Looking at online suppliers it appears available either as a balljoint or a new control arm with a ball-joint. This may be a case where the most prudent (albeit more expensive) method is to replace the whole arm. The arm is cast aluminum. This limits the amount of heat and pressure you can apply. Ammonia is supposed to work at dissolving the corrosion that forms when steel (the ball joint) is in contact with Aluminum (control arm). You could try wrapping an ammonia soaked rag around the ball joint for several days to see if it helps. Short of that buy an entire arm.

Answered by mikes on December 6, 2020

Lower ball joint seems stuck on 2003 Town Car

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