BALL JOINT INSTALLATION - HOW?

[BTR]

2000 Explorer; 4.0 SOHC; 2WD; Lower Ball Joint

I've read several posts/comments in which people say they install a lower ball joint by beating it into the a-arm with a large hammer. They beat it in, instead of using the ball joint press tool, because the tool doesn't have enough space/gap to accommodate the two collars required to press the ball joint into the a-arm.

When you beat the ball joint in, how do you do it without damaging the ball joint? Do you use one of the collars that comes with the ball joint press tool? Or, do you just hammer away on the joint itself?

Thanks for your help.

 

[96eb96]

I don't think you should beat it in, but it is ok to beat out, just be very careful not to distort the hole. You could probably beat it out with a socket. Beating it in would be from under the truck, fighting the torsion bar.


Advance auto rents an expensive set with a deposit. It has all the adapters you need to press in and out. If I recall correctly pressing it in does not require a special fitting.

Be careful beating on those adapters, they can shatter.

 

[XLTrunner]

NEVER beat a ball joint into place! Use the rental tool kit and it will go in just fine. I rent mine from O'Reilly Auto (ask for the Ford adaptor kit) and, there's plenty of room to use it under the control arm.

You can try hammering the old one out from the topside. I wouldn't go all gorilla on it, though. I support the control arm from underneath with a bottle jack and use a 4 lb short-handled sledge and basically just let the weight of the hammer fall down on the ball joint. Usually takes 8-10 hits. Now, if it's terribly rusty, this may not work. It's not uncommon in my part of the country for shops to have to use a torch to heat them up in order to bust them loose.

 

[pjtoledo]

for the lowers I put the joint in the hole, support the outer ring/housing of the joint with tool that fits and jack it up slightly. then medium taps on the control arm to force it down onto the joint.
the hardest part is properly supporting the joint without damaging it or the boot.
start it by hand, aligning the splines on the new joint with the old grooves in the control arm.

 

[SWIGIN]

I sliced about 1/4'' - 3/8'' off the height of the medium collar. The larger piece still works fine over the stud side of the ball joint and the thin piece is enough for the other end since it only sticks out of the lower control arm about a quarter inch or so.

When that collar is needs to be full size again I just stack both pieces on top of each other nd they never seem to slip round and work perfect.

That with the fact that I have a lathe and I made some custom collars make the tool infinitely useful.