Separator for control arms

[Super90]

Which of these tools is the one for separating the control arms from the steering plate? I had to get my tech to do this last time and he used one of these, but not sure which one. FYI, we tried the pickle fork, to no avail.

was it this one:

http://www.samstagsales.com/images/sw12623.jpg

or

http://www.samstagsales.com/images/baljoint.jpg


TIA

[632 Regal]

bigger hammer, hit really hard, even bigger hammer, hit harder, over and over. I used a 10 lb sledge and had to hit 1 side about 5 times for it to break loose.

[Super90]

bigger hammer, hit really hard, even bigger hammer, hit harder, over and over. I used a 10 lb sledge and had to hit 1 side about 5 times for it to break loose.

[George M]

When I did my suspension R&R, I used the bottom link/pic of the two pullers to separate all the ball joints except the tie rods which I used the small Bav Auto puller on. One suggestion is if you don't do a lot of suspension work, Murrays in Michigan where I live has a loaner "kit" which includes a couple of pickle forks and a couple of different pullers for separating different size ball joints. Consider looking into this $80 lease/purchase/full refund offer if you rarely perform suspension work
HTH,
George

[Bill R.]

snapped almost immediately then i bought a better one and it broke after a couple of ball joints.. and then i bought the otc tool since some people had good results with it..I bent the anvil on it almost immediately so they warranteed it and now I stick to tierods and normal ball joints with it..
I think to get the thrust arm without problems you're going to have to get the tool that bmw specifies which is this:
http://www.zdmak.com/sirs-074.jpg
ZDmak is where i got this pic from and they are about the cheapest on it.. A number of other vendors have the correct tool too such as skyway
Here's bmws description of it when they came out with it...http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/thrustarmtool.jpg




Which of these tools is the one for separating the control arms from the steering plate? I had to get my tech to do this last time and he used one of these, but not sure which one. FYI, we tried the pickle fork, to no avail.

was it this one:

http://www.samstagsales.com/images/sw12623.jpg

or

http://www.samstagsales.com/images/baljoint.jpg


TIA

[Super90]

.. and then put the Stahlwille tool on that one finally did the job.

The BMW tool that you show twisted like a pretzel! It was amazing.

So, your opinion was that the BMW tool is tougher than the Stahlwille tools? Wonder if we just got things pulled apart a bit with the bimmer tool and then all the way apart with the Stahlwille.

Now I am more confused than ever.