I'm helping my buddy fix his 2000 2.5 rs and his brother broke the pinch bolt trying to replace the lower ball joint. Instead of trying to get the bolt to come oh he drilled a new hole in the same spot. Now the ball joint has no way of coming out. Is it worth trying to get the joint out or just get a new knuckle?
If he drilled the entire bolt out then the ball joint should be removable. If there is even a thin shell of it left where it crosses the gap in the knuckle it will hold the joint in. Make sure all the remnants of the bolt are removed, then do the usual oil/heat/prying/banging/cursing/bleeding routine needed to get old ball joints out.
yea, it should come out. You may want to use a large flathead screwdriver and/or chisel (I find that an air-chisel bit is about perfect) to spread it apart. then, once it's out, just grab a longer bolt and put a nut on the end of it. done! Don't even need to try to repair the threads.
