Advice for ball joint press kit

[dclassical]

Did some research here, online, ... and I am not sure what to get. This is for a DIY situation (I do not wish to rent them) and would need a ball joint press for cars and minivan (Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Voyager).

I was looking at OTC (maybe the basic kit to get a good C frame and add tubes from another brand to save on price). Maybe Astro?

Experience? Recommendations? Anything to avoid (I read about the HF forcing screw being junk).

I believe MotoYam on YouTube used a HF kit with the OTC forcing screw.

 

[WhiffySpark]

That's what I did

 

[1982fxr]

I ended up just getting whole control arms

 

[JJThrasher]

OTC Super Set is around $315 and will do most anything. That's the main set I use.

Buying the OTC basic press and Astro adapter set will get you something similar for $160.

Alternatively you can get the Astro Master Kit which is basically the same as OTC's Super Set $115.

For personal use I'd buy the Astro kit and then upgrade as needed from there.

 

[kctyphoon]

I have the HF bearing press kit, and the bigger otc hub puller set.. with either of them, it's a good idea to grease the screw on it before using, and to use a ratchet (the HF 1/2" extending model is great for this) instead of an impact.. I can't say for sure which model is better, but both have been successful for me.

I did go with the otc puller set because it wasn't much more $ then the HF, and came with more pieces, did get better reviews too.. if the few $ doesn't matter to you, the otc is probably a safer buy.. that said, if you have a HF nearby, you'd get the lifetime warranty and a local store to use it with..

When I did the front end on my f350 dually, I used the ball joint rental kit from advanced auto. If I remember it was a powerbuilt set, not 100% on that. IF I had to / wanted to get one to buy, I'd probably get that one.. figure rentals are always being beat up from people that don't care about what's not theirs...

This is the rental kit I had.. I replaced EVERY rubber bushing/ball joint on the front end of my truck (2wd dually with a twin I beam front suspension) with this kit, with no problems, and not wishing for other pieces. Being used as a rental set, I'd imagine they hold up pretty well, and I DID use an impact with that set cause I didn't have any long ratchets back then.

Alltrade 648617 Kit #46 Master Ball Joint / U-Joint Service Tool Set - 23 Piece https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028QGT86/?tag=atomicindus08-20

This set might be the "most for the money" with a complete and reliable kit..

 

[WWheeler]

Did some research here, online, ... and I am not sure what to get. This is for a DIY situation (I do not wish to rent them) and would need a ball joint press for cars and minivan (Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Voyager).

I was looking at OTC (maybe the basic kit to get a good C frame and add tubes from another brand to save on price). Maybe Astro?

Experience? Recommendations? Anything to avoid (I read about the HF forcing screw being junk).

I believe MotoYam on YouTube used a HF kit with the OTC forcing screw.

I bought the OTC 7249 ($107) + generic 14 Pc Master Ball Joint Remover Installer Adaptors Kit (~$40) which served me well so far though if i wasn't pinching pennies at the time I probably would have went with the 'Astro 7868 Master Ball Joint Adapter Set' ($60) instead.

The OTC press is Made in USA & a great tool for the price. The same exact press set sells rebadged as the Matco BJP7025C that retails for more than $250. The only press better than it is a Snap On BJP1 but it will cost you much more, even used.

 

[dnschmidt]

Astro.

 

[jchetty]

What is your budget? If you see yourself a lot of cars, more than say 6 front ends- the Snap-On BJP1 is the way to go.

There is a used on on eBay with 100% feedback at $375. I am no pro- I just saved $50 a week and bought it brand new- it is that good.

I paid $600 new. Can't believe list is now $715.

 

[Mhyde52]

I have the Astro. Have used it on a couple 3/4 ton trucks, and some utility vehicles. Works great, no issues or wear thus far. I'm sure it would be more than adequate for small passenger vehicles.

 

[dclassical]

Thanks for all the answers, truly appreciate all of them. I am going to compare prices some more and go with Astro or maybe Astro/OTC.

I don't see enough cars (DIY, basically my family and two friends) to justify snapon prices. I want to save my money for flying and for a new good scan tool/programming tool (maybe Bosch Mastertech).

Again, thank you to all on this forum, really one of the best place for answers, resources, ideas.

 

[vssjim]

I have the OTC set and the Astro set at work, for a home guy the Astro set I'm sure would do everything and as long as you lube screw should last you for a long time. If yu have any trouble the Astro rep is on the board alot also.

 

[dale500]

I Bought a harbor freight kit and it spread like crazy. I recently needed a new set and I found this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BUI5VCW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I worked great. The press and screw weighs over 9lbs where the hf on weighed in at 7 1/2 lbs. a pound and a half more iron makes all the difference. You might need some additional adapters depending on your car.

 

[lbhsbz]

They're all ****, except the snap on BJP-1.

I have a HF that I modified to use a ball bearing between the forcing screw and the part that contacts the adaptor, and I make my own adapters when the HF ones don't fit right. I also have a press...if you're not dealing with spring tension, it's often easier to yank the control arm off and use the press or hell...even a good vise to get the Ball joint out and pressed back in.

 

[Vantastic]

I've had the hf set for 15 years and never had a problem with it.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I ended up just getting whole control arms

Doesn't work all the time. Some aren't in the control arm. The knuckle can have the ball joint in it.

 

[DieselDent]

EBay and CL for a used Snap-On BJP-1, got mine for a steal and its quality is far better than the OTC.
View media item 37529

 

[crab]

If you buy the ball joints at auto shack they will loan you the tool free. I think it is the OTC tool.

 

[kythri]

Another vote for the Astro press. It's always worked great the times I've used it.

 

[bmrisko]

I have the HF set, as well as the adapters and they have worked fine on a number of various vehicles. The older #62785 HF adapter set looks identical to the Astro one...

 

[Bcom]

Here is the HF kit. I personally had it myself. Its actually a pretty tough kit however i ruined mine. I was using mine in an inappropriate way. I was using a hammer on it and a breaker bar with pipe. The clamp eventually bent but it did crush a ujoint and exploded the ujoint in pieces from the pressure the clamp created. Its $90 at HF but i remember only giving $60 for mine at the time. I can recommend this product even if i ruined mine.

image hosting adult

 

[WhiffySpark]

I've never had any luck using a ratchet. Always an impact

 

[DakotaMan]

How many members buy them for personal use? I've just seemed to rent equipment like this from autozone/advance auto parts.

 

[jacked_72]

This is the one Eric O at South Main Auto used. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061SGZO/?tag=atomicindus08-20 Don't know if he's being compensated for it, but it worked for him. Me, I borrow one from Autozone.

 

[dclassical]

I did not remember that Eric O. used the one from Astro, I know he said he has gotten stuff for free but is not paid to use the tools.

I have rented some tools before but I like the convenience of having my own for things that will repeat. Between family and close friends we are talking about 15 cars/vans that we (my friend and I) work on, so to much it is a worthy purchase. Again for convenience (and because I have very little free time at home).

 

[WWheeler]

How many members buy them for personal use? I've just seemed to rent equipment like this from autozone/advance auto parts.

I typically wind up doing ball joints maybe once or twice a year, and I always used the loaner from the auto parts store, but that turned out to be the reason why I wound up buying my own.

I've posted about it here before in the 'Show your new tool arrivals' thread:

[M]y newest tool purchase is this OTC 7249 Ball Joint Press along with the cheapest 14pc set of adapters i could find. I ordered and received both this week. I just got done doing the front end on the truck, new upper & lower ball joints, inner & outer tie rod ends, brake pads/rotors & wheel bearings, and sway bar end links & bushings.

I'm really impressed with this ball joint press. Last time I did these ball joints I used the loaner tool from AutoZone (it was an AllTrade/PowerBuilt) and I destroyed it. 4 seconds or less with the impact and the threads stripped out completely before it even seemed like I was putting much of a load on it. The ball joint sure didn't budge. I wound up taking the control arms off and having them pressed out for me for $50 and then I just barely was able to convince AutoZone to let me get the $150 deposit back. This time the OTC press gave me no trouble at all zipping them out and in.

In hindsight as easy as it broke I suspect that Alltrade loaner I got was probably already on the way out & had been tweaked one too many times by previous customers to me. The threads on the forcing screw were already well covered in grease when I got it so perhaps I just didn't notice that it already some sketchy threads before I tried to put it to use. Or maybe there were already damaged threads in the C-frame that I couldn't see? Maybe the customer previous to me knew they tore it up and got away with returning it without saying anything? I'll never know for sure. It definitely broke really easy and there was no mistaking that it had damaged threads when I got done with it though.

In any case after feeling lucky that I wasn't out $150 for a broken press i knew it was time to buy my own. After that I'd never even consider using another loaner. If I tear up my own at least I'll know for sure it was no one's fault but mine. That piece of mind alone is worth every penny I spent on mine imho.

The OTC (aka Matco) press is a beast. When it came time to buy one I knew it was either it or a Snap On BJP1 I was getting, but it didn't take long looking to figure the latter was priced out of my range. The fleet service dept at work has used an OTC press just like the one I bought for ~10 yrs now not just on ball joints and u-joints, etc, but also for semi brake anchor pins and those require putting a 3/4 impact on them just to break them loose. Even after heating them up we've never found a 1/2" impact capable of getting most of them out (I've seen an IR 2235TI not be able to budge them) and that OTC press has done hundreds of them and is still going strong.

EDIT: If you get an OTC one just make sure it's 'Made in the USA'. As I understand it all the new ones are USA, as are old ones, but for a short while there (~2011-2012-ish I think) OTC experimented with having them made overseas, and it's not hard to find bad reviews about those. Mine bought new in ~Oct 2016 from tooltopia is 'USA', as look to be all the newest reviews from Amazon, but you can go back and see reviews on Amazon from a few years ago where people were pretty unhappy with theirs that was not and failed on them.

 

[Tim C]

I have access to the full OTC kit at work, press and adapters. For home use I bought the harbor freight press and HF adapter kits. After several uses the HF screw press got sprung open. I bought just the OTC clamp with no adapters at all from my MAC tools guy and put it in the HF blow mould case. It works fine with the cheaper adapters the few time a year I use it at home.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[bmrisko]

I got my HF kit AND adapter set for like $55 for both from the open box shelf. Both were brand new w/ damaged boxes. For that price, it made sense to buy my own set to keep in the garage.

 

[gungatim]

I've had the hf set for 15 years and never had a problem with it.

same here. works like a charm. in fact, first time I used it, I was surprised at how easy it is to press one out.

I did learn you have to set it up right, use the correct adapters, etc.

if it is off at all, it will be tough and spread. if it is lined up right, it's a piece of cake.

I am betting those with problems likely didn't get it centered properly...

 

[Den69rs96]

I have this one. When I did the ball joints on my GMC Envoy, I needed a special adapter for the lower ball joints. Most of the cheaper kits did not have them. I bought this kit because it had the piece I needed. It is the same one Advance Auto loans out. I bought mine here years ago and paid about 35 less than the current advertised price. This works great pressing out wheel studs as well.

http://www.toolsmithdirect.com/23-pc-ball-joint-u-joint-service-set.html

 

[jrsavoie]

I have the Snap On and love it.

On a related note, I am working on a 1994 K3500 with riveted bottom ball joints.

I am having a heck of a time to get the bottom lose. I beat on it a good while. Didn't budge yet.

Does anybody have a ball joint separator they would recommend? Heavy duty enough and big enough for this truck?

So far the pickle fork is to long. There doesn't seem to be an angle I can get where the ends don't hit before it gets enough pressure to do any good

I was thinking something like this but heavy duty enough to do the job.

I know the last guy to have this apart, tightened it with an impact. It is probably way over torqued.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...Lw3e-6hDQyJBnzduV6RoCWLAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[jrsavoie]

Does Snap On have something? That's probably a silly question. Apparently it was not a silly question. I ran across the Snap On man and he did not have anything but pickle forks. I'll be back out to try again in just a bit.

Any suggestions for a different way to go about it?

Or something like Item # 32J052

https://www.grainger.com/search?sea...!!g!!&ef_id=WrvFiQAAAHkdLXFX:20180330190242:s

 

[DSLTRK]

They're all ****, except the snap on BJP-1.

I have a HF that I modified to use a ball bearing between the forcing screw and the part that contacts the adaptor, and I make my own adapters when the HF ones don't fit right. I also have a press...if you're not dealing with spring tension, it's often easier to yank the control arm off and use the press or hell...even a good vise to get the Ball joint out and pressed back in.

Not true. The newer chromed OTC is very strong. I wailed on that unit with a new proto 1/2 impact till it wouldn't go anymore and had little deflection and no yield. The threads were greased also. Ball joint off the super duty still didnt pop until I tapped with a ball pien and torch. These were f550 joints over 3 inches in diameter btw.

 

[CobraRed]

This is the one Eric O at South Main Auto used. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061SGZO/?tag=atomicindus08-20 Don't know if he's being compensated for it, but it worked for him. Me, I borrow one from Autozone.

He mentions in the video he bought it himself

 

[garycoleman]

I have a HF that I bought 15 years ago for like $50. It still works great. I don't know about the newer ones though.

 

[Parrothead]

I ended up just getting whole control arms

This is your best bet.

 

[pilotmotor]

Consider a shop press , its much more versatile. I started off 35 years ago with a 12T. wheel bearings dif bearings rear axle bearings ball joints control arm bushings are no problem. I even made a simple fixture years ago for bead breaking before i had a tire machine used it mostly for motorcycle tires. I do realize more disassembly is involved sometimes but if its only a home shop like mine i think its worth the trade off in the beginning.

 

[anndel]

Snap On BJP1