Simple trick to ease lower ball joint installation
#1
Simple trick to ease lower ball joint installation
This may have been posted before, and it's common sense really -- but I never did it this way and I'm kicking myself for it, lol.
I put the new ball joints in the freezer for 15+ minutes before I installed them and took each one out only after I was ready to put it in. I lubed the hole in the lower arm and the ball joint with a thin layer of silicone grease (Sil-Glyde brake part lube).
Well, it took so little torque on the ball joint press that I was astounded. I've put quite a few sets of these in various Rangers and this is the easiest it's EVER been by far.
Like I said, cooling a press-fit part to make it go in easier is not news -- but somehow I never applied it to ball joint installation, so I thought I'd share it anyway.
I put the new ball joints in the freezer for 15+ minutes before I installed them and took each one out only after I was ready to put it in. I lubed the hole in the lower arm and the ball joint with a thin layer of silicone grease (Sil-Glyde brake part lube).
Well, it took so little torque on the ball joint press that I was astounded. I've put quite a few sets of these in various Rangers and this is the easiest it's EVER been by far.
Like I said, cooling a press-fit part to make it go in easier is not news -- but somehow I never applied it to ball joint installation, so I thought I'd share it anyway.
#9
It depends, Andy, on how dirty/corroded they are. It doesn't help getting the old ones out, that's for sure. But it's still easier and quicker getting them in and it's pretty much free.
I found on Candice's truck (8 years old), that I had some difficulty with the new ones because I didn't clean up the arms first. That's probably as important as anything else.
Still need a balljoint press regardless. Easier is easier, says I, lol.
I found on Candice's truck (8 years old), that I had some difficulty with the new ones because I didn't clean up the arms first. That's probably as important as anything else.
Still need a balljoint press regardless. Easier is easier, says I, lol.
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Lefty04LevelII
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07-11-2009 05:19 PM