karls10jk

I ordered these through Northridge4x4 and I see why people order through those guys. They're in Washington state, I'm in Virginia. I ordered them and 2 days later they were on my doorstep (even though TF just barely got these back in stock). The price was also substantially lower than anywhere else, call and ask.

The install is easy and I've got a tool shown below that makes peeling the old ones out a piece of cake. I was pulling out Synergy knurled, TF recommended the knurl to replace it but I'd bet I could get away with the standard based on how smooth the bore was when I pulled the synergy. No miles on them yet, but the install was quick and painless. Rent the big ball joint kit from Advance Auto ($235) and you're set.

Rednroll

Good heads up on renting the tool. I was originally considering purchasing the ball joint kit tool from HF but wasn't looking forward to that purchase, since I figured it would be one of those tools I'ld use once, twice at most and forget about it. Renting it instead sounds like a better idea.

HF kit is ($90), with the 20% off would put it at $72.
https://www.harborfreight.com/ball-j...les-63279.html

karls10jk

I paid $50 for that kit probably 6 years back. It's only any good for doing u-joints, and even then.....unless you're doing u-joints all the time, it's just barely worth the price. It makes that job a lot easier but how often are you changing u-joints? I've got 3 jeeps I'm responsible for as well as a handful of friends that don't have the tools, so $50 wasn't a terrible investment.

What you need for the JK is a short cup with a large hole in the center and an angle cut across the top, that's the silver bullet for getting the upper joint seated flush against the knuckle.

resharp001

The units you rent from the auto parts stores work good enough.....they don't have the piece you need to remove the old ball joints without totally breaking em, but nbd since they're trash anyhow. If you had your own set, cutting the cup to mate well with the underside of the upper C like Karl said really makes life easier....but you can manage without as well. I have a square shaft screwdriver I place in between the lip of the cup and the C to help even it out. If you did buy anything from HF, better to buy the additional adapter kit and then just rent/borrow the press itself from the auto stores. That kit does have the adapter piece necessary to remove the old BJs without ruining them.

Rednroll

Without seeing exactly what you guys are talking about, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what you're describing. It's probably one of those things where once I start doing it myself, things will suddenly become crystal clear. I may just take it to the shop and try to get a quote for the labor to install the TF joints for me. If it's around $200, I may skip the DIY and worrying about the tools.

resharp001

The underside of the upper part of the C is not flat.....it curves a bit...so imagine trying to place a socket on the underside of it, it doesn't sit flush like you'd need it to in the direction the BJ gets pressed down. Definitely hard to envision if you haven't tried to press one it. Seeing the things you do, it's totally a DIY job. I'd think probably $200 - $300 in labor to have it done. Think that is about what they charge around here.

fast forward to 2:50 in this video and you'll see what talking about.

Rednroll

Thanks! A picture is worth a 1000 words as they say. So what Karl described is for when they start using that bottom adapter around 2:50 and insert the washers, to get an adapter and cut the top so that it sits flush instead of trying to monkey around with the washers or screw driver like you described. Makes more sense now.

I've been wanting to replace my front brake pads on my Mopar BBK. Sounds like I may do the Adam's DS replacement, TF Ball joints, and Brake pads all in the same weekend. I like to do things in steps, so probably do the ball joints and brake pads together since I'll need to pull the brakes to do the ball joints, make sure that all works out when put back together and then move onto the DS replacement.

Any idea what size that bottom adapter needs to be, where I could purchase just that adapter by itself, so I can then cut it on an angle?

They have this BJ adapter set at HF, but I obviously won't need the entire kit. Likely best to just buy the one adapter that I need to cut an angle on it and then rent the rest of the set....I'm sure they won't like it if I cut any of the rented set adapters.
https://www.harborfreight.com/14-pie...set-62785.html

resharp001

That's how I interpreted his comment. If you have a kit, and can do that with your own piece, it makes life easier. It is a bit of a pain to have to stack washers or use a screw driver to take up space like I do. Well.....if you have to do the job once it might not be terrible...but I did that job 3 times within a year and it got old. The adapter kit also has the one little piece that accommodates removing the BJs nicely without having to blow the stud right up through the top, but meh, not worth spending the $75 or whatnot in my opinion.

The only thing you need for that task that you might not have is a 12pt 13mm socket for the bearing bolts. Auto parts store should have one if you need one.

jedg

resharp001 has this exactly right. Get the adapter kit from HF. Rent the rest from Advance Auto or OReilly's. The press in the HF kit WILL bend... the one you rent won't. I was using an air wrench with the press I purchased from HF and the C portion of it bent pretty quickly. The one I got from OReilly was built better and worked great.

resharp001

I actually had a buddy bend an autozone one....LOL. My rule of thumb with these are use hand tools/breaker bar when pressing in......cuz that way you can tell when something isn't right. If it feels like you're gonna blow it up...it aint right. LOL. You know that thought.....that crosses your mind in those situations...."this can't feel right". LOL. Usually it comes right before stripping out threads or what not. it's the same thought here.