by side pods, you mean the area of the spindle that the ball joint pin goes through? for this to work, the torsion bar would have to be in and loaded. i've never failed to separate a ball joint using that method.
Looks like chisel marks on the side of the steering knuckle/spindle. I would not hit the knuckle any more.
something just short of a full roundhouse does it. not for the weak of heart. hitting the side of the knuckle actually distorts slightly the round hole that the tapered pin goes through. that's what pops it out. now imagine the force needed to do that. brutal but it works. a chisel is not to be used. it would be stuck directly with a hammer and when done right it never fails. if it is damaged already then use you best judgement.
Yes, that area. The torsion bars are removed, I did that a few days ago with a home made tool. Still worked, although the downward force would have helped.
Absolutely right. If the torsion bars were still installed, I would have done just that.
Those were hammer marks from the hand sledge. All smoothed out now.
Sure does work. Aim is the biggest issue. I'm right handed, so the right side was an easier blow than the left side will be. For that side, I'll probably remove the rotor and dust shield to get a better exposure to the impact pad.
congrats, man! it's the method used by thousands of professionals everday. we don't even give it a thought. kinda fun actually.
What flap wheel do you use on torsion bars and steering knuckle? Pic?
I use a 4" wheel in an angle grinder. I prefer using a worn one like this because they do better at smoothing and shaping, brand new ones can be too aggressive. As for how big a gouge can be cleaned up, that's a matter of opinion - mine is that after you smooth it, if it looks like nothing happened and there isn't a noticeable dent where it used to be, you're fine. Even the shop manual says to dress gouges before reusing torsion bars, although it doesn't say how deep is too deep.
