I'm about to change out the springs on my '01. The manual describes the use of the Ball Joint Remover Tool. It appears to be much more sophisticated than the "typical" such tool you might pick up at the local NAPA. I suspect that the Honda tool was originally designed for use on the aluminum suspension arms on the NSX? Do I need to buy one ($175) or can I rent one from someone or just buy the NAPA version?

Thanks, Cal

 

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=228616

It's not that hard...I thought that it would be, but it's not

Don't bother with the tool...

-kM

 

no need to remove the ball joints at all when replacing springs.

 

I found the lower ball joint on the rear lower 'A' arm is most easily removed by using a small pitman arm puller. My neighbor had one in his garage when I was swapping out my diff (4.57 gears in an '04 diff) ... and it worked like it was built for the lower ball joint. A standard ball joint tool was not working out at all, and damaged the boot (luckily I had some spare boots in house!). I went to my neighbor while he was working on his car, and he said the only thing he had that was even close to what I needed was a pitman arm puller. I decided to see if it would work, and it worked so perfectly I couldn't believe it. It clears the boot and holds securely in place like it was made to be there. It won't work for the upper ball joints though.

 

Heh, flip the castle nut, screw it on halfway and knock the bastard out with a hammer. Takes 15sec.

 

For the lower ball joint on the rear ... the pitman arm puller took less than that - and you don't have to worry about smashing anything else by accident.

 

 

for me i couldnt get the lower control arm low enough to get the shocks out so the ball joint popper was necessary (i had to work by myself)... you can get the pitman one for like $20... makes everything go so quick and its a great investment!

 

Yeah, changed out the rear diff this weekend and bought the pitman arm puller from autozone for about 9-10 bucks. It is the medium size one i believe. It took mere seconds to get that bad boy "popped"