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Lower Ball Joint Separator for W123
I bought One Lot of Mercedes Tools at and Auction. In the lot was a real Mercedes Lower Ball Joint Separator 116589093300.
The Mercedes Lower Ball Joint Separator rarely comes up for sale and the cost quite a bit if you buy a new one.
Another thing is once you have it what else can you do with it?
I was curious as to what other Tool had similar design features and would cost less and be used for other projects besides Mercedes Lower Ball Joints.
I did a lot of internet searching and found the OTC 8149 (supposed to fit Cars and Light Trucks) and OTC 8150 (heavier Trucks) Pitman Arm Separators had similar construction.
I found that the various Sellers and even OTC references to the size that either of Pitman Arm Tools would handle was very Vague.
I emailed OTC and they only partially answered question.
In the Mean time I bought a OTC 8150 on eBay. But, this turned out to be too large to fit as a Lower Ball Joint Press.
I found one of the Sellers on Amazon had the OTC 8149 for $19.99+$6.83 Shipping (Tradervar). And I ordered it.
So today I overcame My initial problem of not being able to separate the upper Ball Joint without damaging the Boot and was able to move onto the separating the lower Ball Joint from the Lower Control Arm.
The OTC 8149 Pitman Arm Press was a tighter squeeze to get it in position than the Mercedes Ball Joint Separator was but I got it into a good position and it quickly popped the Ball Joint out of the LCA.
One of the differences between the 2 tools that could cause an issue with some Ball Joints is that the OTC Tool has a pointed piece on the End of the Screws; the Mercedes Tool is flat.
In My Case the shaft of the Lower Ball Joint was center drilled so the point of the OTC 8149 fit right in. (only back off the Shaft Nut enough so the Nut is loose but leave it on the Shaft so the shaft will not swell when it is pressed off).
About 4 years ago when I replaced the Lower Control Arm Bushings the Ball Joint had been removed so it was in no way rusted in place.
When I am done with my Ball Joint Boot replacement issue I am going to see if the OTC will fit the Pitman Arm
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel
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