I'm going to be replacing the ball joints on my control arms...the control arms are off the car. This looks like it takes some weird socket with 4 notches on it. Since there is no porsche dealership even close to me...where does one get this tool? And are there any tricks to the trade I should know about before I start cranking on it?

Thanks in advance.

if you have a compressor and a air chisel it will take about 5 seconds to loosen the nut. place the chisel end in one of the notches. be very careful when you remove and reinstall the the ball joint pin.

kevin

I bought that socket from Pelicanparts. Use with impact wrench and the job will be easy and fast.

prelubricate with some real penetrating oil (like PB Blaster, not WD-40 which is neither...).
get a big drift punch and a big brass hammer, and it will come right off. i recently removed a factory-installed ball joint and it did eventually respond to pursuasion.

the weird, expensive socket is good if you're anal-retentive about re-torquing it to exact factory specifications, but it is not a real torque-specific application. it needs to be real darned snug. it has that keeper plate which itself is installed with a cotter pin to make sure it does not loosen in service.

I beat the hell out of mine with a drift and a 3lb sledge (after a lot of penetrating fluid). No luck, I had my car aligned and at the same time had the shop replace the joints. they charged me 1 hour of labor and said it took them a helluva lot longer to get those bastards off with the right tools to boot.

soak the pins well and let the penetrent work. ifyou get the pins out/in without ruinning them (i did not), clean the pins and the hole they go into very well. oil the pin and the hole they go into. lightly tap the pins in fully with a drift. do not plan on pulling the pins in while you tighten the nut. if you do, you may need to order new ones. the pins are probably the most exspensive fastener i have ever purchased.

kevin

A large pipe wrench will remove & install them.

It is difficult to hold the the "special tool" so it does not slip.

I hold the "special tool" in place with a board on top of my floor jack and jack the suspension up to it where it just starts to lift the car.

Ken