After replacing the entire knuckle, I found the bolt holes in my knuckle that pinches the LCA ball joint is bent (bought the knuckle from a wrecking yard) and won't let a bolt through. My original knuckle looks fine but the hub is stuck. The bearing was wasted bad enough that it fell out with a couple of mallet whacks. Now the hub remains and a slide hammer, mallet whacks from the back, etc. are no use. Is there a way to do it aside from using a hydraulic press? The reason I want to avoid the press is because I want to do the passenger side as well next time I have the car up on jacks and be done the same day.

The car isn't my daily so it's not a big deal, but I've left it on jackstands for months figuring it out and don't wanna do that again lol.

 

Torch/heat or press

 

When I did mine I hauled the knuckles, wheel sensors included, to a frame and axle shop. They said one was stuck "pretty good" and they have a big press.