Hey guys, got a 1991 4x4 with a Dana 35 front end, I am in the middle of changing all my ball joints
i have removed all my ball joints with no issues, needle scaled and wire wheeled everything and painted the knuckle, I went to install my new ball joint in the top of the knuckle and the press bottomed out, I removed the press and it looks like it is bottomed out but it’s not far enough through the knuckle to get the snap ring on the bottom, (looks like it needs to push through 1/32 of an inch more), I pressed the new joint out again and tried to install the old ball joint and I have the same problem with the old one, now none of my ball joints will fit in the knuckle, I know I have the right part because i have completed the left side of the truck,
after hours of struggling any help is appreciated
thanks,

 

It sounds to me that the tool you are using is not allowing full insertion of the ball joint if you tried it with the old one and you got the same result.