Question: Removing Rod End from Ball

[Heavy Metal]

Gotta show my ingnorance here. Working on my Tamiya KH. What is preferred method of removing rod ends from ball joints without marring the parts? Is there a tool for this? Just brute force w/ fingers? Searches not turning anything up just yet.

[fhhhstix]

Smooth needle nose pliers and use it like a pickle fork and pry it off.

Travis

[Stuff]

pretty much like removing a ball joint on a real car. if you can get a firm grip on the plastic part where the threads are, you can brute force lift it "up" off the ball but dont forget when that energy releases you wont stop within an inch lol

[Espeefan]

There are some special pliers for this task, but I don't see them as being necessary for the job.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVTF4&P=ML

I usually just pop the balls out of the rod ends by grabbing the rod end and it's linkage and leveraging it, till the ball pops free. Or I've always used diaginal side cutting pliers, like a pickle fork, as mentioned above. Another thing I do, although it takes a little more strength and tougher fingers, is to stick a screw through the ball, and then press on the rod end, while the head of the screw rests on a solid surface. With enough force, the ball will pop out of the rod end. The key is to have a screw head that is small enough to fit through the rod end's ball socket area. All methods work, but depending on the ball, it's size, and the type it is (flanged or not), some methods work better then others.

[Heavy Metal]

Thanks guys.