smacking control arm balljoints in. hammer?

[dmartin1]

well i took one of my control arms and balljoints to my buddys boat repair shop and his dad and a worker were able to smack the balljoint all the way in nicely with a lead hammer and a few blows.

unfortunately i dont havea lead hammer, and the ones i seen locally are like 60$?


i have a 5lb solid steel and steel handle mini sledge i call my ford hammer.
will this hurt the balljoint or should i go with a lead hammer or some type of dead blow hammer?

what do ya think?

i do not have a press.and my buddys are beyond busy with the river traffic of boats in town thanks guys!

[undertaker72]

if you have a floor jack , or even a screw jack , you can make a press , and they should be pressed not hammered , but you can use a socket or larger piece of pipe and the jack using the weight of your car or a other piece of heavy equipment , might need a helper or three hands , but you can push them in this way

[hamjet]

I've been known to find a socket that fits nicely on the bj and lay a piece of hard wood on the socket as not to damage it and drive it home that way.. OOPS! got beat out....

[dmartin1]

Originally Posted by undertaker72

if you have a floor jack , or even a screw jack , you can make a press , and they should be pressed, but you can use a socket or larger piece of pipe and the jack using the weight of your car or a other piece of heavy equipment , might need a helper or three hands , but you can puss them in this way

i do have a few floor jacks and some large pipe thank you very much sir! i will just use our suburban. why didnt i think of this?

[cdowns]

go to auto parts store and rent(FREE) the proper ball joint press

[davepl]

"If the tool's not right, the man's not bright."

Put the hammers and jack stands away. We're not stuck on the farm here folks, go rent or buy the right tool.

I've beat them in and I've pressed them in properly. I don't know about the little 1/2 ton ones by the HD units are a bear to hammer them in.

[CC69Rat]

Most of the auto parts stores have the free loan - a - tool option too. I agree, no way I'd pound them in with a hammer. Just me.. As others have suggested I'd locate a press.

[haminator]

Originally Posted by davepl

"If the tool's not right, the man's not bright."

Put the hammers and jack stands away. We're not stuck on the farm here folks, go rent or buy the right tool.

I've beat them in and I've pressed them in properly. I don't know about the little 1/2 ton ones by the HD units are a bear to hammer them in.

Remember there's always more than one way to skin a cat. What ever works, works. I have a press but before I did a BFH did a lot of that kind of work. Heck I haven't used a pickle fork in years.

[Aruba1]

High quality ball joint press did not work for me. I ended up popping it off with a HF 4lb drilling hammer and a 21mm (i think) closed end wrench to get it a good hit. After 3rd time it came flying out.

[elimontfort]

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tls/4440770729.html

Pretty close to you I think. I have the same press and used it when I did my disc brake conversion. It's a good tool to have and at 80 bucks its a steal. Don't use a hammer man.

[frank69]

Give me a call, then just bring them over and I will help u put them in. Frank 702-285-3912

[hamjet]

By the time you go to the store to rent one or pull it out of your storage cabinet or where ever you would keep it, ( because its something you'll use maybe twice in your life time) I'd have it in and out, and maybe I am stuck on a farm..

[davepl]

Looking above I see it's guys with half-tons that are saying it's easy and the guys with HD units that are saying it's hard.

I've done B-body car ones that are as big as the C10s, and yeah, they're tiny and easy to install. It's the stupid monstrous ones that are hard. And they get even bigger: I'm using 1972 Longhorn (so 3/4 or 1-ton) and they're even bigger than the 1970 1-tons. It's like a 2.5" socket if you want to pound them in. Last guy I watched do it (proving it can, in fact, be done) took about an hour and he's in 60s, been doing it for decades.

Skinning a cat is easy, it's putting it back on that's hard, and that's what we're talking about.

[haminator]

A press is for sure easier but sometimes we do what we gotta do.

[motorcritter]

I picked up a used OTC press from a used tool place in Denver (Charlie's Used Tools- they're on E-Bay, too), for about a third if what a new one cost. My uncle (who started me in the 'motor trades' when I was a young lad) told me 'If you need a tool twice, buy it!' Yeah, I've got some stuff I haven't used in about 40-odd years, but by and large, he was right. The 'free tool' deals at the LAPS come in handy, too. Especially if you aren't working on a number of vehicles, at any given time, like I do.

[Hubscrub]

Originally Posted by cdowns

go to auto parts store and rent(FREE) the proper ball joint press

x2 i've beat them in for years, last time i rented a FREE press from the parts house and was in in minutes.