MCF90 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hey all, gonna be doing my ball joints here soon and had some questions. Any brands you would recommend/avoid? Any tips or tricks to make the job easier? I've never done ball joints before, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreman1063 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Get a loaner ball joint press. A mapp gas torch is handy to heat up the inner knuckle when you press the BJ in and out. I always get Spicer joints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I bought a ball joint press from HF, works mint. I always get the 'middle of pack' pricewise for balljoints. Usually end up with a higher end of the house brand from my auto parts store. They usually have them on hand so its just easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 If you want to do ball joints just once, get Moog. I don't mind the work so I get the lifetime warranty Duralast from Autozone for a painless warranty exchange when I need it. Autozone just redid their loaner program and they don't have a loaner balljoint press kit that has all the needed adapters for our axles anymore. I believe Advance Auto parts still does for a $160 refundable deposit. I just replaced two ball joints on a new axle I just installed under Wilbur this morning and made do with the Autozone press and a little piece of scrap 3/16" steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMCJeepMJ Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I just did ball joints this past weekend on my 87 using: -Spicer ball joints from Motion Offroad [$50 per side] -Harbor Freight ball joint press [$60 for the kit] -Lithium grease -liquid wrench -Other assorted tools to get the tire, caliper, and steering knuckle off Don't want to break the c-clamp press? get some good torque on the ball joint, then give it a good tap with an engineer's hammer; they will pop free easily and won't break your tools. Use liquid wrench on the joints and let it sit an hour after you get the steering knuckle off... after all, the old ball joints have probably been in there 20+ years. Use a small amount of lithium grease to help ease the new ball joints back in. Took me about 5 hours to do both sides by myself and was not nearly as scary as everyone made it out to be. There's some good videos on youtube to help walk you through it too. The Spicer joints seem to work just fine and come pre-greased. The top joint has a zerk fitting, but the bottom does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMCJeepMJ Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Double post. Sorry, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I too used Moog Ball joints all around. I rented the ball joint press from autozone and fought with the two cups it came with when we did my brother's xj. When I did my MJ I bought the master cup set at harbor freight. Ended up using a few trimmed soda cans as shims to make the cups fit perfect/centered on the lips of the joints. When you're pressing in your new joints you only want to apply pressure to the edges and get them in straight or you'll fight with the binding and or crush the cap of the joint. here's the set i bought: http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piece-m ... 66958.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreman1063 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Heat is your friend :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW86 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 i also went Moog and rented the autozone press. i now own the harbor freight c press. its cheap and does more then just ball joints. so why not. on the autozone press just figure which cups to use, then i simply used a extra wrench as a spacer on the top ones. worked good to me and didnt bend my wrench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCF90 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 Cool, thanks for the replies guys! I've been meaning to get down to Harbor Freight to pick up a ball joint tool, but when I go there, I always end up walking out with stuff I didn't even know I needed....dangerous! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my86mj Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 where would i get moog joints? ive been planning on doing joints for a little while just to get it out of the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 where would i get moog joints? ive been planning on doing joints for a little while just to get it out of the way i bought mine of amazon.com. they were the cheapest price I found and free shipping. be sure they're comming from amazon or a solid sub-vendor of theirs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Believe NAPA carries them also and I think I might have seen them at Autozone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globex Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We used cheaper ball joint presses at the shop for a long time and a few months ago ended up with a Snap On set. It's way way way overkill for the weekend guy but it works amazing. All the cups just interlock together so no fighting with the cups falling apart and the kit is alot smaller then the old ones we used. We do a bunch of jk ball joints at the shop and the new press probably cut the install and removal time by a 1/3rd or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 If autozone carries them they have a 30% off chassis parts coupon on facebook. You have to use it by tomorrow. http://www.facebook.com/autozone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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