Okay, so right now I am trying to help my buddy out on his 93 Accord DX, in replacing his clutch. Right now we are on the passenger side of the car, trying to disconnect the ball joint. With that said, I have looked through your FAQ about the disconnecting the ball joint. Does anyone have any pictures of 'where to hit with a hammer.'

Link: http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/disconnect.html

This kid does not have much money to spend on tools, and I do not have the tools listed, so I figured we could try the hammer method. My father has a pickle fork, but I was told you are almost guaranteed to destroy the ball joint, which makes sense. So if anyone could lend me some advice, pictures, anything, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is a walk through for the clutch replacement, that would probably make this go a bit more smooth as well.

Thanks a lot.

 

The pickle fork will only destroy the boot. You want to hit the area that surrounds the ball joint stud and not hit the ball joint. I don’t remember if the ball joint is in the control arm or steering knuckle. If it is in the lower control arm which I believe it is you hit the steering knuckle were it surround the ball joint stud but put the nut back on the ball joint a few threads to protect it in case you miss. It takes some hard hitting to shock it loose but they have always broken loose for me. You want to hit the side of the steering knuckle not the top(where the ball joint nut is) or bottom.

 

So basically, put the nut back on like 1/2 way, then put the pickle fork around 'the bolt' and hit it at a 90* angle with respect to 'the bolt'?

For clarification: 'The bolt' = what the ball joint and lower control arm are currently connected to.

Thanks man.

 

"So basically, put the nut back on like 1/2 way, then put the pickle fork around 'the bolt' and hit it at a 90* angle with respect to 'the bolt'?"

No, if you are going to use a pickle fork you don't need to put the nut back on and you place it in the area where the ball joint boot is, but you willl need a new boot. If you are going to use a hammer to shock the ball joint you put the nut back on and hit the steering knuncle 90* angle with respect to 'the bolt' if the ball joint is in the lower control arm.