Lower arm / wishbone ball joint removable?

[Richard of Manchester]

Having to replace the wheel bearing.  All suspension components unfastened ok except for the ball joint connecting the wishbone to the steering knuckle; the castle nut was totally siezed, so I’ve had to cut it. 

I’ve now got the wishbone / lower control arm containing the bottom half of the snapped ball joint and I’m wondering whether I can tap it out (ie it’s removable) or whether it’s part of the wishbone, meaning I need a new wishbone?

I know on the mark 2 version they improved the design but not sure about the mk1. All new wishbones come with the ball joint, indicating it’s a single unit, but is that really the case?  Surely not! 

here’s a stock picture of an Aygo wishbone with the ball joint  

Thank you!

 

Edited January 1 by Richard of Manchester
Grammar

[Vandals01]

You can remove the rubber boot and see if there is a C-Clip underneath it.

If there is, remove the C-Clip then you should be able to hammer it out.

 

Nowadays people rarely change the ball joint only because:

1. It is a labour intensive process.  If you have a hydraulic press that could be quick.  If you don't, get ready for a long intensive fight.  Also, let's hope you will not deform the control arm in the hammering process.  Hammering it out is one thing, installing is another, and you better hope your new ball joint will not be damaged during installation.

2. If the ball joint is gone, the other bushing is probably on its way out.  So change one better change the other two at the same time.

3. Control arm with 2 new bushing and a new ball joint is cheap: The one I put in my 2012 Aygo (MK1) was DELPHI TC1912 cost £31.23 + 8.50 shipping from AutoDoc

[Richard of Manchester]

Thank you vandals01. I agree, hammering it out could well deform the control arm so I ordered a new one and it has arrived today. I’ll be fitting over the weekend. 
 

As usual, the ABS sensor was siezed and snapped, so I’ve got a new one but can’t reach under the wheel arch to unplug the old one. Is there a way of removing this without taking the entire arch liner off?  I think someone mentioned removing the headlight on a YouTube video - is that right?

Anyway thanks again. Much appreciated