XC70: General 2013 XC70 Lower Ball Joint - Help

[al dm]

OK, so I am in the process of replacing the front wheel bearings on my 2103 D5 AWD XC70.

I have watched several YouTube videos and it all started off just fine.

I removed the wheel, brake caliper, disk, brake shield and the hub nut with no issue.

I removed the tie rod ball joint with no issues.

But I cannot for the life of me seem to remove the lower control arm ball joint from the steering knuckle. And I need to get that apart so I can remove the driveshaft and replace the wheel bearing.

The videos I watched show a ball joint with a nut on top. Mine doesn't look like that. It has a bolt that goes through the knuckle and the ball joint would appear to have a cut out in it that the bolt goes against to secure it in place.

Anyway, I removed the bolt, but the ball joint does not want to come out. I have managed to move it a bit (about 5mm) but now it doesn't want to move any further. Because of the way it is put together, it is impossible to use a regular ball joint separator. I have tried with a fork type separator and got some movement, but have managed to damage the ball joint boot in the process and still haven't got the ball joint all the way out yet.

So....does anyone have any tips for getting this bugger out? The part of the knuckle that slides over the ball joint has a slot in it, which I could hammer something into to try and separate it a bit so it doesn't grip the ball joint arm so tightly - but it's a right pig to get to because the driveshaft is in the way....

Anyway, once I have it out I will need to either....replace the ball joint completely (grind off the rivets and fit a new one with bolts) or just replace the rubber boot.

VIDA doesn't list either the ball joint or the boot as separate items. Volvo just want to sell a complete new control arm with integrated ball joint, which I don't want to do. So does anybody have part numbers for the just boot or for the ball joint? (I have found Lemforder ball joints at EuroCarParts, but am looking for other options).

This was always going to be a bit of a pig of a job, but now it's a whole pig. I'm going to leave it overnight and then come back to it in the morning with a clear head.

All input welcome. Bloody ball joints!

This is the Lemforder ball joint that will fit. Doesn't seem to come with nuts and bolts though... https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/lemfo...oint-617660365