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I found this tool in the middle of the road. Appears to be a pry bar of some sort, approximately 16" long. Can anyone identify it and its use?

Tool

isherwood
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Carl
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    I can say from experience these make really bad pry bars. They are brittle and break easily with the forces a pry bar experiences. – Brad Jun 07 '22 at 17:05

1 Answers1

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I believe it is a ball joint separator tool for a car.

Another example -

enter image description here

Photo taken from here.

HandyHowie
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    Often called a "pickle fork". – jwh20 Jun 07 '22 at 11:04
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    Someone is lucky that a forgotten tool from a careless mechanic didn't block his steering. – fraxinus Jun 07 '22 at 14:46
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    Also known as a Ball Joint Destroyer. Separate a ball joint with this - yes. It's what it's designed for. But you aren't using that ball joint again for anything. In most cases that's fine, but occasionally you just want to get the ball joint out of the way for a few minutes, in which case, there are better tools for the job. – PeteCon Jun 07 '22 at 18:56
  • @PeteCon these things work better in pairs, with the two sloped planes pressing against each other. Access can be an issue. – Criggie Jun 08 '22 at 23:13