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Installed ball joints today
As the title says, I pressed in some new ball joints today. I can honestly say that this was not a fun job at all. I've tackled some big jobs before, but this was pure misery. The easiest part of the whole job was taking the spindle arms down to the machine shop to get the old joints knocked out. That was the best $7 I've spent this year. I used the borrowed Autozone press kit and an impact tool to drive the new ones in. They went in straight but it took several minutes of driving to get them in. The impact socket was smoking hot when I was done.
Oh, the point of the story. It was pretty dark in the shop when I was pressing the last joint in. When I heard the snap of the joint going in the last little bit, I thought in was in all of the way and packed up the press and took it back to Autozone. When I packed in the arms this evening to admire my work, I noticed that I lacked about a sixteenth of an inch of driving the joint in all of the way. Fudge, but I didn't say fudge. Ball joints suck. Sorry, I just had to vent.
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'82 240D Euro 68K and growing |
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When I was a kid
My Pa only had used cars and kept meticulous care of them. Before puberty I assisted in changing out ball joints on just about all American makes. (big 3) Don't get me wrong, I loved helpin' Pa with the cars. But I always hated Ball Joints. Mainly because it was my job to hold an old axle in place (on the joint, or arm or whatever) while Pa used a sledge hammer on the other end "to loosen that sucker up".
To this day when I think of Ball Joints, I get a headache and ringing in my ears.
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Sonny 86 190D N/A 2.5L Auto 265k "Ruby" -Sold- 79 300D 242k "Condi" my first -sold- RIP 2013 chevy sonic hatchback - had to for work |
#3
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I paid a local machine shop $50 to remove & replace mine. After some time later, I noticed the driver side could've been pressed about another 1/8" in. Too late now. I don't believe it should affect alignment too much considering how old these cars are. I wouldn't worry too much about yours. Paul.
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1984 300CD red/blk 290,000 partial resto 1980 240D 4 sp Brn/palomino gone 1997 Mazda Miata STO edition wife's baby 1988 Lincoln Mark VII LSC next resto 1986 Subaru GL wagon daily 1993 Isuzu pickup field beater 2008 Honda Civic EX-L 5sp wife's new car 1978 Honda XL350 1974 Honda XL70 my Calif. ride in HS |
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Oh my, I am going to do mine within the next few days. I didn't want to hear that...
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What is it with people and impact guns? A pipe on the handle would have been a much better idea for more leverage.
I bet if you really cleaned that socket good, put the joint in the freezer overnight before installation and used a little light oil during installation it would have been a lot easier. This is all in the archives. Also they are not that hard to pound out. You would have spent your $7.00 better by having a shop press them in for you. Danny
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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles OBK member #23 (\__/) (='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your (")_(") signature to help him gain world domination |
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just did both on my W126 1984, put the spindle in the freezer for an hour along with alot of PB blaster soaking.
use a regular weight metal framming hammer, hit it in the middle of the ball joint like you are driving a nail. i discovered this after alot of big pounding with 4lb sledge and mandrel. what got it to move was the regular small metal hammer with a nice wristy blow to the middle, like driving a nail with two fingers. as for the press in called, around and found an indy with the correct $360 press. charged me $30 for both, took 15 minutes, straight, all the way in, no taking off the boot.
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1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's) 1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD) 2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K 1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K 1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD) 1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE) 609 Certification |
#7
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Quote:
I thought that the $7 was a bargain for pressing the joints out. I believe that I stated in my post that I took these to a machine shop. They did not want to mess with pressing them in. There are no MB dealers or indy's within 100+ miles of me, so I am on my own. I could not have completed the job without an impact gun. You tell me, what is it with people and impact guns?
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'82 240D Euro 68K and growing |
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#10
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the freezer contracts the metal, easing the bond between the ball joint and the knuckle.
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1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's) 1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD) 2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K 1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K 1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD) 1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE) 609 Certification |
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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue" "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." listen, look, .........and duck. |
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