Ball Joint rivet removal

[Scrap Fe]

What method works best for you in removing rivets in ball joints?  I've tried grinding the heads flush and whaling with a punch and hammer and I've tried drilling the rivet out.  Neither method was robust.

I would like to salvage the ball joints if possible.

TIA for any suggestions.

[Jokester]

I've always used the busted knuckles method.  Using a very sharp chisel I shave the rivet off little bites at a time.  Sometimes it helps to drill it out first, because that removes quite a bit of metal.  Many small bites is better than trying to knock it all off at once.  Keep sharpening the chizel.

my 2 cents.

.bjb

[SKR8PN]

What method works best for you in removing rivets in ball joints?  I've tried grinding the heads flush and whaling with a punch and hammer and I've tried drilling the rivet out.  Neither method was robust.

I would like to salvage the ball joints if possible.

TIA for any suggestions.

Air chisel works best, two ways.........
First ya cut the heads of the rivets off with a plane old air chisel bit.
THEN ya use a punch bit in the air chisel to knock out the rest of the rivet.
AND ya get to reuse the joint if'n your careful with the chisel.......

Can ya tell I'm gettin' real good at changing Durango and Dakota upper ball joints??

[donsrods]

And wear safety goggles while chiseling. I had one of the rivet heads bounce off the fender panel and hit me square in the eyeball, years ago. I had a black spot on my eye for a long time.  Lucky I'm not blind.


Don

[Scrap Fe]

Thanks for all your suggestions.  I found the best method was using the air chisel to remove one of the rivet heads grinding it flush and using the air chisel with a punch to remove the rivet.  I wasn't able to salvage the ball joints however but they aren't that expensive.

The air chisel with a punch also works well for removing the bushings.

Now off to the powder coater.