Lower Ball Joint Press

Started by GTVeloce, August 25, 2021, 02:16:09 PM

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GTVeloce

I am in the middle of refreshing the front suspension on my 75 and had a little trouble pressing the lower ball joint back in. Previous times I have done this the lower arm was off the car making life much easier but I didn't want to remove the arm if I could help it. I did some research and decided I would try a ball joint remover. I know shinycar had some trouble using one on his car which made me a little cautious however, the unit he had appears a bit smaller than the unit I purchased. I went with a (supposedly 4WD) kit from SCA:
https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/toolpro-toolpro-4wd-ball-joint-remover/543413.html

Reviews were really mixed but I thought if it doesn't work I will still make use of the tool in other ways. Regardless, I have now pressed both lower BJ's back in with ease and the tool is not showing any signs of wear and tear.

Note, I didn't use it to remove the BJ's. I used my reliable method of cold chisel and hammer. Working my way around carefully and they fall out.

I've attached a picture just after I had pressed one in showing the tool installed. I needed the breaker bar for torque but it wasn't hard with the bar. So in short, I would recommend it for pressing lower ball joints if you don't have a press and or don't want to remove your LCA.

shiny_car

#1
Nice.

Yep, I originally did mine with simpler tools if I recall correctly.  Since then, I have a hydraulic press (no good unless lower arm off the car), but also have a ball joint kit like you have, which I've used for plenty of other jobs aside from ball joints (eg: recently used the cylindrical collars to remove/fit a gearbox rear mount).  Mine was from eBay!

EDIT: looking back through my photos, I used the kit I had plus my hydraulic press to fit my lower ball joints.  Your may well be more heavy duty but can't quite tell from the pics.
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