Spindle removal from lower control arm

I've tried everything. Can't remove the spindle and caliper bracket from the lower control arm. Am I missing some sort of clip or anything besides the top nut?

Smack the side of the spindle where the ball joint stud goes in with a BF hammer. If you have to heat the spindle a little to get it to expand to let the balljoint stud out.

Don't miss and hit the threaded stud. I have used another hammer to back up the spindle. If all else fails, pickle fork.

I use the same method as turtle, I usually leave the nut on the ball joint at the end of the threads to catch the part and protect the threads. I position the nut flush with the end of the threads... if that makes sense

4lb hammer strike on a pickle fork. Don't be gentle, HIT THAT SUCKER!

So I think part of my problem is I have the lower arm off the car. So I'm not able to leverage the pickle fork enough to get the force I need. I guess the first thing I should do is put the control arm back on the car to get that leverage back. I also tried using a pitman puller but I ended up screwing up the top of the thread. I'll reinstall sometime this weekend and try everyone's advice. Only thing I won't be able to do is heat it so I hope that won't be needed. Appreciate all the help! I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

So I think part of my problem is I have the lower arm off the car. So I'm not able to leverage the pickle fork enough to get the force I need. I guess the first thing I should do is put the control arm back on the car to get that leverage back. I also tried using a pitman puller but I ended up screwing up the top of the thread. I'll reinstall sometime this weekend and try everyone's advice. Only thing I won't be able to do is heat it so I hope that won't be needed. Appreciate all the help! I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

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You are correct to put the lower arm back on.

So I think part of my problem is I have the lower arm off the car. So I'm not able to leverage the pickle fork enough to get the force I need. I guess the first thing I should do is put the control arm back on the car to get that leverage back. I also tried using a pitman puller but I ended up screwing up the top of the thread. I'll reinstall sometime this weekend and try everyone's advice. Only thing I won't be able to do is heat it so I hope that won't be needed. Appreciate all the help! I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

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Here's the thread from when I did my front suspension: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-front-suspension-project-complete-mostly?highlight=control+arm

Note that one of our Tech Advisors says to avoid using a pickle fork. I tried to use one without success, so I simply hit it as hard as I could with a small hand sledge, and it popped right out. Good luck and keep us posted.

So it took the Pitman tool and a pickle fork working in unison with a couple whacks from the hand sledge before it popped out. Really screwed up the stud in the lower control arm in the process. But I have a new one I was going to put on anyway. Really hoping the passenger side won't be as bad when I get to it. Now I have a little more knowledge of what to do. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

So it took the Pitman tool and a pickle fork working in unison with a couple whacks from the hand sledge before it popped out. Really screwed up the stud in the lower control arm in the process. But I have a new one I was going to put on anyway. Really hoping the passenger side won't be as bad when I get to it. Now I have a little more knowledge of what to do. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

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Did you leave the nut on even with the top of the stud?

::goodjob:: Good luck with the other side!

::goodjob:: Good luck with the other side!

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Other side should be a lot easier! Famous last words I'm sure.

::goodjob:: Good luck with the other side!

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Other side should be a lot easier! Famous last words I'm sure.

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Here is what I did on my 69 when I was completely disassembling the front end. The 69 ford manual calls for a "special tool" (yeah they do that ALOT). I didn't build or buy the tool, but I improvised something like it.

The procedure they call for has a tool that is placed between the upper stud, and the lower stud. Then a nut on this tool is turned, applying increasing compression, pressing the upper stud UP and the lower stud DOWN as you turn the nut.

First you have to loosen the crown nuts on the spindle studs a few turns. say 2 or 3 turns. If you only want to release the lower, only loosen that.

I was able to mimic the "special tool" by using a piece of 1/2in all thread, with some "tall" nuts on the end. If I had had them, I probably would have used an all-thread coupler on each end of this all-thread as they are ~1 - 1.5in long. With the piece of all thread cut to something just short of the distance between the upper and lower stud and the couplers on each end, you dial-down the nuts/couplers so they engage and press on the stud ends. Then, hold one, and turn the other to increase the pressure between the two studs. It gets tight really quick, and just a fraction of a turn will apply quite a bit of push (or pre-load) on the stud.

Increase it until you feel like you have a really healthy "pre-load" pressing your stud outward, and then get a BFhammer and smack the spindle. The SHOCK from this smack, *combined* with the PRE-LOAD from the all thread/couplers is what will break these studs loose.

I would really avoid a pickle-fork, these things are like medieval torture tools for a car, and it's almost never a good idea to use them (IMHO).

See what you think about that. When I did this, it was kind of a pain, and my make-shift tool was a little frustrating, but it did work once I was able to get some really good pre-load dialed into the stud. I also did this with everything off the car, doing it on the car would make this more difficult, obviously.

Good luck!

Jay