what's a good ball joint press?

[jumpncrash]

Hey guys!

So my 6th gen is down because of ball joints so I went and got my 12 ton shop press back from my buddy to get the job done. Unfortunately once I got it back home and got the hubs off it looks like it's not gonna be a job I can do with the shop press.

This will probably sound bad, but what Amazon ball joint tool kit do I need for this? does anybody have experience with a specific kit? Is there something I should avoid?

Even better, can I do it with my shop press? What insane jenga-press setups have you guys done?

Thanks in advance

 

[RedRyder]

I just replaced the whole lower control arm, not that expensive and saved me worrying about pressing in a new joint. I had a shop do the upper ball joints.

 

[jumpncrash]

I just replaced the whole lower control arm, not that expensive and saved me worrying about pressing in a new joint. I had a shop do the upper ball joints.

umm...the ball joints are pressed into the hubs along with the wheel bearings, the lower control arms bolt onto the ball joint, replacing the control arm will do nothing for the ball joint. The upper control arms have the ball joints, and those have ben replaced. I guess I should have specified that this is for the lower ball joints.

 

[RedRyder]

You're right, don't know what I was thinking. Guess I picked the wrong day to quit drinkin.

 

[T.$.Racing]

I used a buddies 20 ton Harbor Freight shop press. Its been a while, but I'm pretty sure we had to hold the hub itself on an angle to get just enough contact to press the ball joint out. I want to say we used a propane torch to heat up the area around the ball joint itself as well. It wasn't easy, it required a lot of pumps and elbow grease to finally get the thing to "pop" and when it did it was loud enough to scare the shit out of us.

FWIW, only use O.E. or Moog ball joints. Previous owner of mine used Mevotech bullshit and the drivers upper broke, thankfully while on a side street, but it took out the CV axle with it. Snapped it clean in 2 at the joint. Check the price on a O.E. axle for a 6th gen manual trans with ABS if you want a good laugh. Along with being apparently being rarer than hen's teeth, you can buy a beater Accord for msrp on the thing

 

[Wistful]

On my old 6th gen I used an angle grinder to cut the lower ball joint flat and then with a piece of steel hammered the crap out of it until it came out. Sprayed it all with PB blaster beforehand to make it easier.

 

[jumpncrash]

I used a buddies 20 ton Harbor Freight shop press. Its been a while, but I'm pretty sure we had to hold the hub itself on an angle to get just enough contact to press the ball joint out. I want to say we used a propane torch to heat up the area around the ball joint itself as well. It wasn't easy, it required a lot of pumps and elbow grease to finally get the thing to "pop" and when it did it was loud enough to scare the shit out of us.

FWIW, only use O.E. or Moog ball joints. Previous owner of mine used Mevotech bullshit and the drivers upper broke, thankfully while on a side street, but it took out the CV axle with it. Snapped it clean in 2 at the joint. Check the price on a O.E. axle for a 6th gen manual trans with ABS if you want a good laugh. Along with being apparently being rarer than hen's teeth, you can buy a beater Accord for msrp on the thing

I used a buddies 20 ton Harbor Freight shop press. Its been a while, but I'm pretty sure we had to hold the hub itself on an angle to get just enough contact to press the ball joint out. I want to say we used a propane torch to heat up the area around the ball joint itself as well. It wasn't easy, it required a lot of pumps and elbow grease to finally get the thing to "pop" and when it did it was loud enough to scare the shit out of us.

FWIW, only use O.E. or Moog ball joints. Previous owner of mine used Mevotech bullshit and the drivers upper broke, thankfully while on a side street, but it took out the CV axle with it. Snapped it clean in 2 at the joint. Check the price on a O.E. axle for a 6th gen manual trans with ABS if you want a good laugh. Along with being apparently being rarer than hen's teeth, you can buy a beater Accord for msrp on the thing

yeah, maybe I need some assistants to get it lined up, unfortunately they're in short supply

On my old 6th gen I used an angle grinder to cut the lower ball joint flat and then with a piece of steel hammered the crap out of it until it came out. Sprayed it all with PB blaster beforehand to make it easier.

well I got it out just fine with a hammer, but how did you get it back in after?

 

[INK DEMON]

While I’m sure you can figure out a way to use a shop press for this, it just isn’t a very practical solution. You definitely do not need to remove the hubs you just need to remove the knuckle assembly. The ideal solution IMO would be using something along the lines of the OTC ball joint adapters and a C frame press. It’s the least painful method.

You can also just remove the knuckles and take them to a shop so they can swap out the ball joints for you. Then just go back and install them on your car.

 

[jumpncrash]

Well due to covid restrictions I can't go to box stores here, so I've been waiting to figure out what to get as a tool online for a good price or find a deal locally.

So I took a drive this weekend and since it was around where I was going I stopped in at Princess Auto and picked up their ball joint C-clamp press kit at 50% off (49.99cad).

https://www.princessauto.com/en/ball-joint-u-joint-service-kit/product/PA0008354714

Once I got home I got her set up and got cranking...had to use the tool in a fashion that it was not entirely designed for but...

Success!


So if anybody is in canada and has an accord, princess auto 3 in 1 puller kit has got your back!