pressing balljoints 12ton not working

[andrewtp]

used black iron pipe fittings for natural gas. They had a bunch of different sizes from 1/2" all the way up to 3" , also they were only about $1-$2 each... sockets are expensive, use pipe fittings for arbors


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gonna tackle this project this week. I’ve read horror stories of sockets shrapneling under a press- these pipe fittings should be safe?
And do you remember which sizes you used?

thanks

[mitch500]

gonna tackle this project this week. I’ve read horror stories of sockets shrapneling under a press- these pipe fittings should be safe?
And do you remember which sizes you used?

thanks

I can’t remember what sizes sorry. Just take a new balljoint into the hardware store and find something that works. But I used a combo of iron pipe fittings, one for pressing and one for receiving.


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[andrewtp]

Good idea. Will do.

[JitteryJoe]

Cheap thin wall sockets might break. Do you have some impact wrench sockets? They tend to be very stout.
Don't forget to mark the old ball joint orientation so you press the new one in correctly.
Cutting off the center ball joint shaft (the long shaft) makes it easier to remove.

[andrewtp]

Thanks for the reminders.
I picked up a set of impacts from Harbor freight and the 27mm did the job for the outer ball joint. I couldn't find the proper receiver for the inner joint at Lowe's - their black iron pipe selection only went to like 1" and according to this diy http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=402063 I need a 2" ID pipe. Where else can I try finding pipe fittings?

[mitch500]

I bought my larger pipe fittings from princess auto which is a Canadian version of harbour freight. Home Depot and Lowe’s only carry 1” max. Try harbour freight.


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[andrewtp]

I didn’t even bother to check if they had fittings there, I’ll try looking for some this week after work sometime.

[boarder2k7]

I bought my pipe fittings at Home Depot, mine went up through 2" stuff. As for safety, it should be fine, but I'd or course recommend ear and eye protection.

[andrewtp]

I found 1 1/4 to 1” reducer at a metal supply store to push the arm onto the joint and ended up tearing the boot from the threads inside the reducer. Had to dremel the threads to smoothen it out and it worked fine, only now i have to wait for a new balljoint to come in, oh well i still end up saving money in the end only downside is i don’t get to drive my car
make sure if you use a similar size arbor that if it has threads grind those down or you’ll end up tearing boot like i did.

[mitch500]

I found 1 1/4 to 1” reducer at a metal supply store to push the arm onto the joint and ended up tearing the boot from the threads inside the reducer. Had to dremel the threads to smoothen it out and it worked fine, only now i have to wait for a new balljoint to come in, oh well i still end up saving money in the end only downside is i don’t get to drive my car
make sure if you use a similar size arbor that if it has threads grind those down or you’ll end up tearing boot like i did.

Just push the balljoint into the arm, not vise versa. Then you won’t have this problem.


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[andrewtp]

Just push the balljoint into the arm, not vise versa. Then you won’t have this problem.


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That is what I did - ball onto arm, the the fitting i used had threads on it that tore boot- easy fix was just dremeled the threads but had to buy new ball joint, no big deal though 18$ or something.