Features:

  • For separating the ball joint from the spindle support arm on domestic and import front wheel drive vehicles
  • Adjustable for different size ball joints
  • 1-1/8" & 2-1/8" (30 & 56mm) maximum opening capacity
  • Slot is 7/8" Wide by 1-1/4" Deep
  • Use with a 15/16" Socket
More Brilliant Then Your Honor Roll Student

I've been doing suspension work on and off for years. The job almost always ends up with me sitting in a pile of rust chips with a sledgehammer and a tie rod fork, swearing more than a trucker in traffic. The time finally came when my trusty 2001 RAV-4 needed some suspension work, and it had a good 350,000 miles of wear and rust to make the job extra fun. I needed a better solution. Enter this GearWrench tool. I ripped the tire, rotor, and brakes off, no sweat. Then there she was - my nemesis. The tie rod end. After a good half hour of destroying the castle nut with an impact, I had to pound that sucker out somehow. I took a deep breath, slipped this new gadget on, and got it finger tight. So far so good. Then this is where the magic happens. I put a 1" socket on my impact and gave this tool a couple of "ugga-duggas" and SNAP! The tie rod popped apart with the force of an Oklahoma thunderstorm. I was absolutely delighted. I did the same on the other side - exactly the same satisfying pop. Then I eyed my lower ball joints - the first one popped with so much force that it flew across the room, smashing my pinky finger mid-flight. My finger bruised and swole up for three days. I was ecstatic. Again, I did the other lower ball joint - this time moving my hand out of the way. I have no idea where that ball joint went, but I'm sure it will pop up when I clean up the garage. This tool is pure magic. Don't do another ball joint or tie rod end job without it.

This thing plain works. I had balljoints that refused ...

This thing plain works. I had balljoints that refused to come out. Sledge.. floor jack with whole vehicle's weight on the joint still didn't want to come out. this thing popped them all out and it made a hell of a bang. Definitely wear protective glasses and gloves.. loosen the nut but leave them on so when it pops the nut will keep the ball joint captured instead of flying out.

Time Saver; GearWrench brand = Good materials

This tool is awesome!!! I have beat joints with a hammer for years and never got one of these because I was afraid it would just break. When I saw this with the gear-wrench name on it I expected quality of their other gear-wrenches which are great. I was not disappointed. One of my latest favorite tools. Tip: tighten up by hand ratchet (no impact) and watch it closely; it will start to bend from stress a bit. Stop and hit the joint like you always have. It should only take a small to medium shock hit to free the joint; if it doesn't just pop anyway from tightening. Be prepared as joint release will sound like a gunshot...and then happiness comes because the joint is loose faster than ever before.

Handy dandy tool to have

Normally I used a pickle fork to separate ball joints, tie rods, etc. And yes, I ended up tearing the boots apart. However, it was no big deal since most of the times, I was replacing the separated joints. I like this tool in that now I can separate the joints and inspect them and reconnect them if they are still good without being forced to change out a good joint because of a boot I tore. This is a very handy tool to have.

I must have for anyone who wrenches on their stuff

Worked perfectly to remove almost 20yr old tie-rods and steering stabilizer on a 1999 Jeep XJ. Very easy to use and made quick work of the job. Before starting make sure to add oil to the threads to prevent binding when tightening it down. Do not over-tighten, just get it good and snug. Then use your hammer to hit the knuckle hard a few times and re-tighten as need. Repeat and it will pop right off.

This thing is a lifesaver on rubber-isolated BMW ball joints!!!!

I was trying to get the original control arms out of my BMW Z3 to replace them, and I spent days beating on the control arms and steering knuckles with a hammer, and mangling the old ball joints with a pickle fork (of course I used penetrating oil a bunch of times). I got the inner ball joints loose with the pickle fork, but for the life of me I could not get the outer ones to break loose from the steering knuckles. The problem is that on at least some BMWs (like the Z3), the ball joints aren't solidly mounted to the control arms, but instead are mounted in rubber to 'isolate' them. Basically to transmit less vibration and shock from the road to the car. So when the threaded part is really seized to the steering knuckle, and you try to hammer in a pickle fork (which is really just a wedge) between the control arm and steering knuckle, instead of the threaded seized part popping loose from the steering knuckle you'll see the base of the ball joint trying to separate from its rubber mount in the control arm. Basically the force you're applying is wasted. So that's why you NEED this tool for rubber-isolated ball joints... And really, if you don't want to mangle your old control arms (to put in new ball joints, say), then it would be a lot cleaner to use this tool. I didn't use an air impact gun or anything, just a 1/2in ratchet and socket. Kept tightening until the surprising gunshot sound (about like a .22 going off a few inches away). But you'll be smiling if you've been struggling for days to get the ball joints loose like I was!! This tool is a great invention, and I'd say if you are going to do ball joints it would be a good idea (and absolutely necessary if you have rubber-isolated BMW ball joints).

Must have, to remove tie-rod balljoint

My car's steering boot was leaking and falling apart, so I got a replacement part and took off tie-rod castle nut and cotter pin. In several youtube video's, I saw people hammering at the tie-rod and I tried it for 30min before I stopped, to avoid damaging tie-rod and other parts of wheel. Car repair manual showed a balljoint remover, like this one, so I bought it and tried it. Although the tool looked like it was not going to fit, it actually fit like a glove, and tightening the nut on the tool with 24mm socket, the balljoint got loose within 1 min with a pop sound. Inspecting loosened tie-rod, there was no damage at all. This product is a must tool for replacing car steering boot. PS. Had to adjust tie-rod, because car was pulling a bit to right. Use the tool again, and this time it took literally seconds, and gave tie-rod one turn, and this fixed alignment to perfect, as far as I could tell.

Life saver

This tool and Amazon overnight delivery saved me a pain in my ass (from my wife's kick) and some $. Somehow I ended up replacing my Subary Outback 2011 ball joint on Thursday night and managed to successfully remove that dreadful flange bolt and hammered out ball joint from knuckle, but it was stuck on control arm and hammering it out didn't work. That was 9PM. I ordered this removal tool with overnight with delivery from 4AM to 8AM. Slept over and woke up 6AM to find it on my porch. Fit perfectly and after few turns ball joint flew out like a bullet with shot like sound. Be careful here! By 7:30AM I was done putting new parts in and made it to work on time. Woohoo!

Worked when others have failed.

This unit worked were others have failed. The ball joints that I was trying to remove were on a 1999 Miata. Since they are the original items there was nearly 20 years of corrosion holding it on. I purchased a older ball joint tool here at Amazon years ago, but it failed to budge the studs and it broke in the process. The GearWrench unit came highly recommended by other reviewers here so I decided to give it a try. Within a few minutes of using this tool the ball joint separated from the driver side knuckle with a satisfying 'bang'. However, on the passenger side I had to use a combination of hitting the knuckle (where the ball joint stud threads through) with a hammer, and heating the same area with a propane torch, before this tool could knock the stud out. So sometimes you need a combination of heat, beat, and hope. As can be seen from the attached photo, the GearWrench units (silver in color) is larger in size, applies more force through a larger screw with a finer pitch and being position further from the pivot point, and has some height adjustability to accommodate different size ball joints . The older unit (black in color) bent the pivot pin from all of the force I was applying before. I'm just glad that it didn't snap in half

Definitely a good price for a useful tool if you work on suspension

I spent many years pulling apart suspension with a pickle fork and decided to take a chance on a ball joint seperator. It has since been more than worth the price. Some people complain about breaking them, but this tool is designed to put enough pressure on the joint that it pops out while tapping the link with a hammer. If you are torquing this down enough to break it, then you need to return to a pickle fork and a sledge hammer. I have used this for outer tie rods, upper ball joints, lower ball joints, and some struts. Seems to work every time. Definitely a handy addition to your toolset.

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