[robertinargyle]

I have a friend who just bought a used Pred. When he brought it over we found his ball joints were in bad shape. His quad is out of warranty but Polaris offered to replace the ball joints but charge for the labor, (2-300 bucks). We're gonna try to do this ourselves to save money. I/ve heard on this site that you need a special tool for this job. Any tips for first time do-it-yourselfers? Any input greatly appreciated.

 

[gottitanium]

I repaced my upper ball joint no problems no special tool it was pretty easy

 

[robertinargyle]

How did you remove/replace them without a press?

 

[jsyi]

You leave the nut on and pound the crap outta em with a hammer but you'll probably end up buying new nuts whihc isnt too much. at least this is how I did it.

 

[localbuzz]

This is just a suggestion. I have not tried this myself on balljoints but it might work. If you own a vise you might be able to press them out with it. It works when replacing the u-joints in a 4x4 truck, it might work for this also. Find a socket that is just slightly smaller that the opening the balljoint fits in. then find a socket the is slightly larger than the opening that the balljoint fits in. put the small socket on one side and the large one on the other and place it in the vise. start tighten the vise. the small socket should force the balljoint out while the larger socket pushes against the arm and allows the ball joint to slide out. Putting the new one in would work the same way. It might be worth a try. Its the same principle as a press only without the extreme pressure of a press. Like i said i have never done this myself but the technique seems right. Anyone, agree or disagree with this hypothesis?

 

[gottitanium]

I had a tube the right size and vise. big vise!

 

[1]

Yep a vice will work,but I just use my 12 ton press.
Later

 

[robertinargyle]

Hey Localbuzz- I think we'll give your socket and vise method a try. Thanks!

 

[marlboro80]

havent tried it on the ball joints, but i have used that method on many other vehicle applications and it works great!

 

[roxford]

I would say the best way is with a press... least amount of chance for distortion of/around the hole where the balljoint fits. if you dont have a press, call your local (automotive) machine shop, tell them what you wanna do, most of them should be able to help. don't call the dealer though, they'll charge crazy amounts.

 

[vortec57]

yeah, contact your friendly local machine shop or welding shop and see what they will do, i know most of them have the brains and the tools to do it