GRRRR all my god damn balljoints that have the castle nut w/cotter pins, the cotter pins were completely seized so we just broke them off by turning hte nut, now the center of them is stuck in the bolt, how the heck do i get them out, btw a punch will not do it.

Electric drill, maybe?............Just a thought. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

try an extractor??? liquid wrench???

if you can heat it up a little and dowse it with water the shock will somtime jar it enough so you can drive it out with a thin punch

if that dosent work get out the dremel and a small drill or metal eating bit



I dont know if its aceptable or not but I like to use a nail bent over instead of a cotter key Iv never had a problem with it

I just grabbed them with pliers and broke the ends off. Then with a 1/2" drive ratchet and socket I just cranked on the nut until the cotter pin sheared off. It really only takes a little bit of force to shear that little pin.

If they're rusted in, and if you can tolerate putting whatever they're rusted into in water (at least that part of it) you might try electrolytic rust removal. You can do a search on the web for the instructions. Basically, you use a battery charger, water and washing soda from the supermarket to remove rust from one iron/steel item and in the process turn another iron/steel item into rust. Unfortunately, it doesn't turn rust back into metal, but it won't remove anything but the rust. It will take plating and paint off metal if they aren't on there pretty good so I don't put anything in with a finish I want to save on it. Real important to get things hooked up right, but it can turn some really ratty looking items into something that looks halfway decent. It might remove the rust around the pin and allow you to get it out.
Alan

.....with a punch and hammer

Kick ass, i'm gonna try that electro stuff tommorow!

Any luck with with this? I have the tool to reinstall the bands on the CV's so count that off the list of stuff to get.

Soak the bolts overnight in solvent (I've been using Kroil lately). Then I'd try using an appropriately sized drill bit to push them through.