Hey guys, it's that time...ball joints need replaced on my 98. In the past I have had access to a lift, air tools and such, but I probably wont have access to it tonight. I can borrow the ball joint press though. Question is, how hard are these to use without an impact? Is it doable with a 1/2 ratchet?
Yes I know, airtools are great...I just don't have a big enough air compressor to run air tools...I need to save and buy some air tools, because they are just too handy.
I did my ball joints with a 1/2" ratchet and 3' breaker bar attached. Slow going, but it did the trick. oh, and that was with the ball joint press kit.
I actually don't have large compressor anymore but have started investing in cordless impacts. I have a 3/8" drive 14.4v SnapOn that has some serious balls. I just added 1/2" cordless Craftsman. Very handy and worth investment IMO.
It is very handy, but doesn't have enough umph sometimes! I have saw the snap on 18v impacts and they are pretty nice! I have always wondered how good the plug in one's are, but they are always so much bigger and hard to get into places with.
I still got the other side to do, it ended up getting late by the time I got home from work, drove 1 hour and 15 mins to harbor freight, ate and then I stopped at 11:30....im pretty tired this morning lol
Haven't had to do the Jeep yet and its a 95. Hopefully it's not as bad as the 98 Jaguar I have. We had to use a torch and heat them and use the cutting torch to cut them out as the press just pushed thru the center and left the rest!!! I hope I NEVER have to do that again!
I pressed my lowers in, and beat the uppers in, the press wasn't working right for the uppers for some reason...they were a bit of a bugger to get out though i will say that....lots of pressure from the press and a hammer lol
Jeeps need the offset balljoint adapter to get them in straight I think. On my list, and I bought the HF press but bought a set of 4WD adapters to go with it. The main one is a wedge shape. Don't expect much from the HF press but if it works for 4 BJ's it can explode after that.
I bought the OTC Ball Joint Press when I did my ball joints. They were pretty well seized in at 200k miles, took me about 13 hours to do all 4. However if I had to do it again right now, probably do it in about 4.
you need the full 4wd service kit. the big box of stuff.
otherwise you'll be hammering away like these guys.
and hammering on the ball joints doesn't get them seated right and 99% of the time destroys the body or bends the c.
Ya, you definitely don't want to pound a way on the ball joints with a hammer. its pretty much going to make you hate the job even more. Get the press, enjoy life (plus, as soon as you buy it, you're almost guaranteed to know someone is going to say they need it)
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