Many of us don't have a sufficient shop press or a vice big enough to press out u-joints. The option many of us has been using has been a shop hammer, a big bolt and a large socket.
A handy tool to have at home is a ball joint press. The one from Harbor Freight is economical and usable. It also is great for removing and installing u-joints and is even readily portable.
Here is a video of the removal of a u-joint from a driveshaft. Installation is almost as easy.
vimeo.com/55713635 (http://vimeo.com/55713635)
:icon_scratch: where have I seen this before? :13: :victory:
Quote from: mopar65pa on December 16, 2012, 12:18:14 PM
:icon_scratch: where have I seen this before? :13: :victory:
Not as many people have made fun of me on this post yet...
:sleepy: (http://:sleepy:)
I bought that ball joint press kit a few years ago... this weekend is the first time I have used it on ball joints, before that it was always u joints.
So maybe I didn't recognize Ron (which I do) and maybe the fact that his Caliber is in the background might even pass me by. However, that RamJam pit is unmistakeable!! :thumbsup:
I did mine with a vise, sockets and a big mallet to break it loose. The vise was barely large enough. The facings on my vise are torn/broken all to hell and the handle is bent from using a cheater bar on it frequently. So it's time to upgrade to bigger and better.
I really like the idea of putting the ball joint press in the vise though. That gives it the clearance most people's vises don't have.
Hey great idea, learn something new every day. Does it work on the large 1 ton chevy truck ujoints? And or any way to make it work on the ujoints on a 4X4 front axle shaft joints?
REB
Quote from: REB on January 14, 2013, 12:11:47 AM
Hey great idea, learn something new every day. Does it work on the large 1 ton chevy truck ujoints? And or any way to make it work on the ujoints on a 4X4 front axle shaft joints?
REB
I have not done a front drive shaft, but I have used this method on the front axle shafts. It was a bit of work and getting the parts in just the right location, but it worked without an issue. I do not see any reason why you could not do it on any u joint
If the caps are too large to do without the various adapters, there should be one in the kit that will let it work. Everything I have is small enough to use without adapters.