Removing CA from Strut

[bigmacneb]

I'm trying to pull off the ball joint that connects the control arm to the strut housing (knuckle). I was successful in getting the tie rod to pop right off but the control arm is a son of a bitch. I sprayed it down, hit it with a mallet, hit it with the nut still on with a hammer and I got nothing. Does somebody have a tip here? I applied some pressure to the tie rod connecting part on the strut, but that didn't do anything for me. I was going to try the pickle fork, but my CA's have been replaced and the rubber and everything is still good.
Thoughts or tricks?

[AlarmedBread]

use a jack under the strut housing to get some pressure and help it pop, or use the correct puller.

[jlevie]

A ball joint press, like the BMW special tool, will pop the arm free without damage to the ball joint or dust cover. It is a bit on the pricey side at about $200, but nothing else works as well.

[bigmacneb]

Update. There was no getting that SOB out of there, so I resorted to the pickle fork. I greased the hell out of it, applied upward supporting pressure to the strut and hammered away. I used the BFH and finally, finally it popped off. It was stuck very well. I called and visited a Checker and Autozone and neither had a ball joint press that could work.

The bad part is that even though I greased it up, the boot still tore, so I get to replace the control arm in the coming months. Though the bushings and ball joints were in good shape the control arm itself was showing some wear, I think the previous owner pressed on the new ball joints. So in the end not a huge deal, but I tried every trick I could research to get it off without the pickle fork with no success.

New bilsteins and springs feel great though.

[scabzzzz]

New or not new, the shit just gets stuck sometimes. 2 big ass hammers and a pry bar seem to work well though.

[CorvallisBMW]

You can always repair a torn boot with a bit of silicon cement. I tore my brand new ball joint rubber doing the same thing, and just silicone'd it up. Good as new.

[NC325iC]

i use a bfh on the arm itself with the bolt out, that has worked for me the past few times, but my CAs are only a couple years old

[BobombETA]

I jacked the strut housing up until the control arm was basically vertical.. then pounded on it with a bfh.