Harbor freight u-joint press

[bobthecop]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38335

I bought this this weekend, and it worked great for removing lower ball joints of a '72 3/4 ton. I had to cut the threads off of the ball joint but other than that it worked great. Thought I'd pass the tidbit along. You wouldn't have to remove the lower control arm, and the tool will also press in the new ones. Not a bad deal for $29.99 on sale.

[greasy68]

Thanks for the info. It is always hit or miss with their tools. My friends say their ad slogan should be "Harbor Freight....It will kill you on the third try." I have liked most of the stuff I have gotten from there but i bought it after someone told me they used it and it worked. I will probably be looking into one of these this afternoon. Thanks.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by greasy68

Thanks for the info. It is always hit or miss with their tools. My friends say their ad slogan should be "Harbor Freight....It will kill you on the third try." I have liked most of the stuff I have gotten from there but i bought it after someone told me they used it and it worked. I will probably be looking into one of these this afternoon. Thanks.

Same here, got a couple great tools cheap, and some well, yeah... be careful!!! The biggest surprise was how well my $120 mig welder has worked!!!

[fine69]

That press works great for U-joints as well.

[shifty]

So, you could use this to press out the lower balljoints from your lower control arms?

[bobthecop]

Originally Posted by shifty

So, you could use this to press out the lower balljoints from your lower control arms?

Yes, I had to cut the threads off the ball joint and used an impact to press the joint out, it also installs the new ones. My control arms are not installed, but you could easily do it with the control arm still in the vehicle.

[shifty]

good info, and just in time. i needed to press some out and was about to pay a shop down the street $20 to do it. i'd rather buy the tool instead.

thanks!

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

I have that set, it works great. I've never had to cut the threads off though. Put the correct adapters over the threaded stud,a nd you shouldn't have to do that.

Shifty yes it will remove the lowers too. If you don't have it you can still remove your lower by taking the spindle loose, lowering your control arm on a block of wood placed behind the ball joint under the lower control arm, then smacking the ball joint with the biggest hammer you have. In two hits or less, your ball joint will be on the floor.

[shifty]

OUCH!

Shipping 10-14 days Think I'll go to the local store, which isn't very local

Bill - control arm is already completely off. I've had some bad things happen with hammers recently (hands and knee are mangled), so I think I'll use the press

[Shane]

Join their Inside Track Club and you can pick it up for $19 ... the $10 you invest in the ITC can be re-couped very very quickly. Print out the ad online then take it to the store and they will match it.

Funny that this came up today as I just picked one up this weekend. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, but have some NAPA u joints just giddy with anticipation ...

[WorkinLonghorn]

Now you tell me. I was JUST out there last week on the pavement with hammer,vise,-couldn't find my #@%^ visegrips, changing out a U-joint.

[Premium72]

good deal most of thier junk..is uh. well junk ..

[Shane]

Originally Posted by Premium72

good deal most of thier junk..is uh. well junk ..

All of it is junk ... you just gotta be savvy enuf to know the difference between the really junky stuff and the "just kinda halfway" junky stuff.

A good portion of their stuff works just fine for the weekend warrior type (like myself) who cannot and will not ever justify buying Snap On or MATCO type stuff to be used once every 1-2 YEARS.

But I do agree 100% with you that HF stuff would fall apart in less than a week if used by a pro wrench in a daily situation.

[bobthecop]

I have that set, it works great. I've never had to cut the threads off though. Put the correct adapters over the threaded stud,a nd you shouldn't have to do that.


On my '72 the ball joint stud was too long for the clamp to fit over it, out came the cut-off wheel and then it worked. The first one took me about 45 minutes, the second one about 10 minutes, I figured out how the tool works, I'm special that way...lol

[Shane]

If anyone is interested in this Ball Joint press for $19 contact me or Shifty.

You will need to have a local Harbor Freight in order for this to work ... NO SHIPPING.

[mbgmike]

I bought a vise from them once. it blew up
I was heating up a part and then it blew out a chunk of bondo about golf ball size.

I bought an arbor press from them. Broke the plate on the bottom in half.

Only think i use so far that works good has been the folding (camping Stool type) stand for putting body parts on.

Its really a throw away tool store IMO

[Madmandav]

I bought a tie rod/ball joint fork set from them, broke the tie rod fork and bent the hell out of the ball joint one before job was done on 1 truck.

[Putter]

Originally Posted by Shane

If anyone is interested in this Ball Joint press for $19 contact me or Shifty.

You will need to have a local Harbor Freight in order for this to work ... NO SHIPPING.

PM pending. I have a local one not more then a few miles away. Pearl, MS.

[caminokid]

Originally Posted by Shane

If anyone is interested in this Ball Joint press for $19 contact me or Shifty.

You will need to have a local Harbor Freight in order for this to work ... NO SHIPPING.

PM sent...6 blocks from my Harbor Freight store.

[shifty]

Well, I had no luck with ball joint removal, the C-clamp portion bent from all the torquing - and yes, I followed the instructions, and even shot it up with PB blaster 4-5 hours before going at it . Still no dice. I guess it can't handle 35-year-old lower balljoints that've never been replaced.

In order to use it per the instructions, it was necessary to remove the threaded end because the rings they have aren't deep enough. I started by taking the impact wrench to it. When the impact wrench wouldn't do it, I took a 3' prybar and wrench to it for another 3/4 rotation of the threaded rod. Then I finally got pissed and pounded it an extra half turn with a BFH and it still wouldn't break the balljoint free. I finally got tired of the control arm floundering everywhere and gave up

I'm sure this tool will come in handy for other things, so I'm going to keep it. After how hard it was to separate the balljoint from the spindle, I guess I should've expected this, though.

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

Originally Posted by shifty

In order to use it per the instructions, it was necessary to remove the threaded end because the rings they have aren't deep enough. I started by taking the impact wrench to it. When the impact wrench wouldn't do it, I took a 3' prybar and wrench to it for another 3/4 rotation of the threaded rod.

I guess ya'll have a different set than mine. I've never had to trim.

[fastazhell]

i work in the automotive profession and will surprisingly admit that their ball joint tool is "decent" i have one at home that gets used maybe once a year lol. simple rule of life- you def get what you pay for though. the stuff is cheap for a reason so be careful on what you buy...made that mistake once or twice when i was first starting out in the biz!

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Bus Ted Knuckle

I guess ya'll have a different set than mine. I've never had to trim.

there was a $79 kit in the store as well. the one i got is the one Shane has pictured above. that black circle in the middle of the box is three separate rings that are about 2" tall. unfortunately, on the 73-87 control arms, the threaded post is 3" tall with an additional half inch or so of balljoint tucked under it. 2" sleeve + 3.5" of balljoint to clear = sorry, better cut off the threaded part

i tried to find some other wacky, unorthodoxed way to piece it together to work around this, but it was a no-go. it was faster to spend 90 seconds with the cutoff wheel and just hack off the threaded part. in the end, it wouldn't press out anyway, so ... meh.

[bobthecop]

I'm sorry it didn't work for you, and you spent $ on a failed tool. Maybe I should add disclaimers next time I recommend a tool, but it did work for me. I guess we all live and learn. My next purchase is going to be a real 20 ton press so when the cheap route doesn't work I have a handy alternative.

[shifty]

Oh, it's not a failed tool! I am quite certain that these balljoints are just a freakin bear and need a a little more than the 300-500 ft lbs of torque that my impact wrench and I can provide.

You shouldn't be sorry, the tool has three other purposes anyway Who doesn't like to add another tool to their arsenal, especially for $20?! It's not even a wasted trip because I managed to get some Norton 4.5" cutting wheels @ half off (thanks to Shane) while I was there so .. seriously? It all balanced out in the end, so no harm done, no worries (you should see the ball joints, I don't even know if a 5zillion pound press is gonna push em out).

I'm hitting the JY over the weekend to look for some newer control arms in better shape. These have got a little more wear in the pockets than I was expecting, but there was absolutely no way to know without taking the springs out.