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Hello all, I’m in new of replacing my front lower ball joints tonight after work before work tomorrow.. I don’t have a press, so I’m wondering if a hammer or something can tackle this job. As I posted in my subject its a 2004 ford ranger. Doing the control arm and upper bj seems to be cake, just the lower kind of concerns me a little. Any help/ suggestions/tips is very appreciated
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How to do ball joints off the car:
Nice ball joint press set
Break the ball joint loose with huge torque
Hit it with the impact
Feeling of victory when it finally falls out
Tips o’ the day:
- You will have to change adapter configurations twice during the press-in & press-out process because of space limitations. The press is only so big, so you’ll use an adapter configuration to break the ball joint loose, and another configuration to run it out and vice versa.
- You can rent a ball joint press at autozone for a $100 deposit; you’ll get every cent back upon the tool’s return.
- You can do ball joints ‘on the car’ but it might not be as easy (every vehicle is different.) If you run into any problems, it might be worth your time to take the steering knuckle off the car (which is what I did in the above pictures.)
so I’m wondering if a hammer or something can tackle this job.
I’ve used a sledge hammer to break a ball joint loose, and then ran it out by laying on it with an air hammer… which was a relatively quick and dirty method, and resulted in the ball joint’s destruction, which was ok because I was putting in a new one anyway. There is no way to install a new ball joint with a hammer. The proper tools will be needed for ball joint installation.
You can “rent” the press and adapters at most auto parts stores. You have to pay full price for the tools and when you return them you get all your money back.
[quote=”Wrench Turner” post=52148]How to do ball joints off the car:
Nice ball joint press set
Break the ball joint loose with huge torque
Hit it with the impact
Feeling of victory when it finally falls out
Tips o’ the day:
- You will have to change adapter configurations twice during the press-in & press-out process because of space limitations. The press is only so big, so you’ll use an adapter configuration to break the ball joint loose, and another configuration to run it out and vice versa.
- You can rent a ball joint press at autozone for a $100 deposit; you’ll get every cent back upon the tool’s return.
- You can do ball joints ‘on the car’ but it might not be as easy (every vehicle is different.) If you run into any problems, it might be worth your time to take the steering knuckle off the car (which is what I did in the above pictures.)
so I’m wondering if a hammer or something can tackle this job.
I’ve used a sledge hammer to break a ball joint loose, and then ran it out by laying on it with an air hammer… which was a relatively quick and dirty method, and resulted in the ball joint’s destruction, which was ok because I was putting in a new one anyway. There is no way to install a new ball joint with a hammer. The proper tools will be needed for ball joint installation.[/quote]
Nice post!
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