ball joint tool

[Ranger4657]

ok, so im pooor,

dont want to buy the ball joint clamp thingey to press the ball joints in/out.

anyone have any good ideas for a makeshift tool that will do this job well?

 

[Yellowsplash]

Go to advance/auto zone and ask for the loaner tools. Give them ur credit card, bring it back, and it will be free with no money exchange.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

big c clamp and some exhaust pipe/huge socket.

IF it will fit.. in my experience the actual tool hardly ever even fits

 

[Ranger4657]

big c clamp and some exhaust pipe/huge socket.

IF it will fit.. in my experience the actual tool hardly ever even fits

good call... ive got both of those. this is my first time replacing ball joints. so im not familiar with how the tool works, but good call.

thanks allot!

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

i can tell you how it works, but like i said the tool usually never fits. the last 3 i did i ended up hammering out the old one and gently tapping in the new one. don't forget to remove the snap ring holding it in

 

[Ranger4657]

sounds good, yeah once you said c clamp and a cup of some sort, it made allot more sence as to how it works. thanks on c clip/snapring warning!

 

[Ranger4657]

i guess one more question, you think ill be alright swapping in a set of cheepos? like in the $20 range?

its going on a truck with allot of miles its not myne, doing this for a friend. (i dont usualy go for cheepos.)

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

don't know. there can't be much difference

 

[Ranger4657]

yeah thats my thought, it looks like some have a zerk. and some dont.

 

[legoms013]

The ones with zerks are more expensive, but are better IF you regularly grease them. if you don't they aren't much better that the non-greasable kind. they should last darn near forever (or close to it) if greased religiously and dirt is cleaned out regularly.

I'll be using the non-greaseable ones cuz thats what the factory used and hell if the factory ones lasted 200K im fine with not changing them again until 400K. Which is unrealistic. we're not talkin diesel here so 200k is plenty. the truck will be rotting in some boneyard at that point and worn out balljoints will be of minimal concern.

From a technical standpoint the non-zerk ones can get debris in them and ruin them from the inside out but in my experiece this doesnt happen unless you have a mud bog on your commute.

Go with the cheaper ones. even better go to autozone they have a lifetime warranty on there 23-25 dollar ones (non-greasable).

Good luck. my .02

 

[modelageek]

The ones with zerks are more expensive, but are better IF you regularly grease them. if you don't they aren't much better that the non-greasable kind. they should last darn near forever (or close to it) if greased religiously and dirt is cleaned out regularly.

I'll be using the non-greaseable ones cuz thats what the factory used and hell if the factory ones lasted 200K im fine with not changing them again until 400K. Which is unrealistic. we're not talkin diesel here so 200k is plenty. the truck will be rotting in some boneyard at that point and worn out balljoints will be of minimal concern.

From a technical standpoint the non-zerk ones can get debris in them and ruin them from the inside out but in my experiece this doesnt happen unless you have a mud bog on your commute.

Go with the cheaper ones. even better go to autozone they have a lifetime warranty on there 23-25 dollar ones (non-greasable).

Good luck. my .02

I would get Moog parts they are the best buy and make sure you grease them often. they are not much more than the cheap ones. I personally don't care about the lifetime warranty with ballpoints because 80% of the repair cost/time, involved is labor, You would get a $25 part for free and then have to pay $300 to put it in or spend 3 hours of your time installing it.

 

[Ranger4657]

well considering the truck ill be installing on has like 180k miles and has been beat to hell by my brother.... ill prolly end up going with a non zerk kind, i dont even know if he knows how to do lube any of the existing points on the body! lol yikes.

im only doing this for like 50 bucks.. + parts....

 

[v6underpressure]

Im tackling this tomorrow on my ranger. I dont care how many miles. My lower ball joints are shot to sh*t and my truck only has 84k miles on it. Anyone that thinks the non-greasable ones are better than the greasable ones have no experience whatsoever. Get the moog problem solver and let it last the lifetime of your truck. I picked up the pair for 75 from rockauto. Been there done that. If you go cheap, then you will simply get cheap performance. Trust me, in 16 years working on vehicles, I learned the hard way. I would NEVER get anything but moog for my steering/suspension components.

 

[v6underpressure]

Also forgot to mention, advance auto's ball joint tool is much nicer than autozones. Then again, autozones tool has CHINA in huge letters stamped right on the tool.

 

[kozak]

don't know. there can't be much difference

I have went the cheap route, and wont do it again. Not even a year later I found my self back at the parts store getting the Moogs. And that was just on a daily driver.