Pressing front control arm bushings & ball joints
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Pressing front control arm bushings & ball joints
For the guys who have pressed in their own ball joints and lower control arm bushings, was it enough of a PITA that if you had to do it over again you'd have a shop press them?
I've thought about using a ball joint press to do the bushings and the ball joints, but have heard a few nightmare stories about getting the things to go in straight. Seems like the going rate for a shop to do these is $15 a bushing/joint, which works out to $90. How much trouble is it to do it yourself?
I've thought about using a ball joint press to do the bushings and the ball joints, but have heard a few nightmare stories about getting the things to go in straight. Seems like the going rate for a shop to do these is $15 a bushing/joint, which works out to $90. How much trouble is it to do it yourself?
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I've done it a few times. A ball joint press costs about $100, or you can rent one for free from autozone. I bought one just because it feels damn nice to have one laying around, you can also press control arm bushings and u-joints with them.
The trick i've found is to not even bother trying to run the press by hand. Just grab a 1/2" impact gun, put an impact deepwell socket on it (13/16 i believe...) and just crank on the press for a second or two. VERY IMPORTANT: then get a hammer and hit the press screw, then hit it more with the impact gun, repeat until it's off.
You could do it by hand, but it's a pain, just be sure to drive the screw in with a hammer every now and then, it's probably the most key thing to do.
I've also known a few people who would just slam the old ball joint out with a hammer, and then use a piece of wood to hammer the new one in so they dont damage it.
The trick i've found is to not even bother trying to run the press by hand. Just grab a 1/2" impact gun, put an impact deepwell socket on it (13/16 i believe...) and just crank on the press for a second or two. VERY IMPORTANT: then get a hammer and hit the press screw, then hit it more with the impact gun, repeat until it's off.
You could do it by hand, but it's a pain, just be sure to drive the screw in with a hammer every now and then, it's probably the most key thing to do.
I've also known a few people who would just slam the old ball joint out with a hammer, and then use a piece of wood to hammer the new one in so they dont damage it.
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Re: Pressing front control arm bushings & ball joints
Originally posted by Brett H. - 89GTA
Seems like the going rate for a shop to do these is $15 a bushing/joint, which works out to $90. How much trouble is it to do it yourself?
Seems like the going rate for a shop to do these is $15 a bushing/joint, which works out to $90. How much trouble is it to do it yourself?
I have a small, hand ball joint press and attempted to use it to remove the bushings. It couldn't budge them and all I did was waste time.
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Originally posted by RJR99SS
I've done it a few times. A ball joint press costs about $100, or you can rent one for free from autozone. I bought one just because it feels damn nice to have one laying around, you can also press control arm bushings and u-joints with them.
The trick i've found is to not even bother trying to run the press by hand. Just grab a 1/2" impact gun, put an impact deepwell socket on it (13/16 i believe...) and just crank on the press for a second or two. VERY IMPORTANT: then get a hammer and hit the press screw, then hit it more with the impact gun, repeat until it's off.
You could do it by hand, but it's a pain, just be sure to drive the screw in with a hammer every now and then, it's probably the most key thing to do.
I've also known a few people who would just slam the old ball joint out with a hammer, and then use a piece of wood to hammer the new one in so they dont damage it.
I've done it a few times. A ball joint press costs about $100, or you can rent one for free from autozone. I bought one just because it feels damn nice to have one laying around, you can also press control arm bushings and u-joints with them.
The trick i've found is to not even bother trying to run the press by hand. Just grab a 1/2" impact gun, put an impact deepwell socket on it (13/16 i believe...) and just crank on the press for a second or two. VERY IMPORTANT: then get a hammer and hit the press screw, then hit it more with the impact gun, repeat until it's off.
You could do it by hand, but it's a pain, just be sure to drive the screw in with a hammer every now and then, it's probably the most key thing to do.
I've also known a few people who would just slam the old ball joint out with a hammer, and then use a piece of wood to hammer the new one in so they dont damage it.
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Yeah, the key is to lubricate the threads. I use an otc press and i've never had a problem with it. The snap on press costs about $400, and the otc one about $100.
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