kstyer said: This sound weird but works. Hit the steering knuckle on the boss that surrounds the ball joint stud. Don't be whimpy, Get a two pound hammer, pretend your THOR, and HIT IT. It flexes the metal where the taper is that the ball joint is wedged into. Now the caution. Hit it square. DON'T hit anything else. No other area of the knuckle/spindle, or anything else. Swinging that hard will hurt something. Often after two or three hits, the ball joint stud will pop loose. If not it loosens it enough that the pickle fork or puller can now do it's job. It works on any car with a good solid cast iron knuckle. NEVER do this on a sheet metal control arm, or any sheet metal or cast aluminum unit. Cast Iron only. This also workd for tie rods, etc. I have removed hundrends of them this way. It works well. Don't miss.

I've used this method, too. It also helps to hold a second heavy hammer on the opposite side from where you'r hitting to steady the joint and focus the impact. Joe

Glad they are off. Just one word of caution. When it's necessary to use heat on suspension parts, keep it to a minimum. Heat can change the temper of the metal.