[Christ]

Does your "Ball joint removal tool" look like a giant crab fork? (two pronged one) or a tuning fork?

LOL, if it does, you dont need that. You just need a decent sized (framing) hammer.

See the metal area that the tie-rod bolts through? Put some upward tension on the tierod (don't hulk on it, just some pressure is fine) and smack that metal with the hammer. It will pop right out.


Those "pickle forks" tend to damage boots on ball joints.

As long as you haven't attempted to jar the joint loose at all, just thread the nut down over the cotter pin. Even if it doesn't come off, and the whole unit just spins with the nut, you can still use a nut breaker, and you won't need to reuse any of those parts anyway.