I'm at the point where I need to replace the ball joints on my 78. Can anyone recommend a good source where I can buy one of these tools? The shop manual part number is HT7252000. The ones I have seen so far are just the fork type without the bolt to 'help' seperate the ball joint from the transverse link. Or, is the fork type without the bolt just fine?

Thanks again..

www.project280z.com

I did mine with just a fork, I'm pretty sure they were the original ball joints too, seeing how bad they were. Just get yourself a good sized hammer and go at it, they'll break loose with enough steady clobbering.

Theres nothing wrong with using a good pickle fork set. Only time you would want to use the type shown in the FSM is if your going to reuse your current Ball joints. Since your Ball Joints are shot to begin with and your replacing them with new ones anyway then I say go ahead and use a pickle fork set.

Here is the set I purchased a while ago. Bought them off the Snap-On guy that stops by my work. Can't remember the cost though

http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product?storeId=10101&Pr=p_Product.CATENTRY_ID%3A2004158&TID=100&TID=100&productId=2004158&catalogId=10101

Pickle forks suck! Search on the web for "ball joint removal tool". A good one cost about $45-55 and is worth it's weight in gold! http://www.etoolcart.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=6556

https://www.roverparts.com/ProductList.cfm?vehicle=All&category=ALL&Search=separator&PartNumber=&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0

"Pickle forks suck"

I disagree. Only time they "Suck" is if you are reusing the Ball Joints bacause you run the risk of damaging them. If they are shot to begin with and your installing new Ball Joints then who cares? there is nothing wrong with them IMO.

Check out Harbour Freight. If they have this it will cost you a lot less than $55. If you were going to change ball joints 6 times a week, get the $55. I you are going to change ball joints 6 times in your life time, go to Harbour Freight.

I found one here

http://tooltopia.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH&txtSearch=tie%20rod&Page=2 for $15.00 bucks. Works great.

Best,

H Houghton

My pickle fork is a PROTO, but sometimes, the 5lb sledge hammer works fine by itself. A couple of whacks on the ball joint, an it just pops out.

I have the same type that DZR posted. It works with an air hammer so you don't have to use a sledge hammer.

You can also try "Autozone" they will loan you tools, no charge.

You can also try "Autozone" they will loan you tools, no charge.

Absolutely! After I rented one, I decided not to return it since it was so inexpensive. The rental "deposit" is often quite a bit cheaper than buying from somewhere like Harbor Freight. I bought my slide hammer from Autozone that way. It was used, but half the price of the cheap one at HF.

To each his own. I've owned and used pickle forks. Sometimes they work fine and other times it's a real pain even with a air tool type. A quality tool should last a lifetime. If you ever get the chance to use a proper balljoint/tierod remover then you'll understand quickly why I would promote acquiring one. It takes no effort to get the job done quickly and painlessly. While replacing a bad joint would preclude worry over the boot if you're changing a control arm, strut or spring it doesn't make sense to trash a good joint. That's just my humble opinion.