I am going to be doing the ball joint game next weekend and was wondering if anyone had preference to a certain brand of BJ press. I have seen that OTC is about the only thing available without having to jump up to snap-on/matco.

Anyone have a mid priced brand that works for more than one ball joint(harbor freight)??

 

I just bought the otc ball jiont press but you have to get the one for dodge trucks and jeeps it was like $300. A normal ball jiont press is not long enough for these trucks . If you need the part number I can get it for you.

 

OTC and Miller both make good presses for these trucks. The Miller part number for the press is C-4212F and the part number for the receiver/installer kit is 8975.

 

In the mechanic biz, OTC was always an outstanding product.....Ben

 

I also purchased the OTC was backordered for a while but overall a great product the right tools make a difference

 

miller tool has a ball joint press that is specific for our trucks the c-frame is part#4212f and the cups are part#8445
check ebay for these, i got a c-frame for 60 bucks and the cups vary from 100 to 130
good luck

 

TM guys. I have seen the OTC ones but not the Miller. I just called and found out that the Carli balljoints are currently backordered!!!! how long do you think i can drive on shaddy balljoints before i am risking failure?

 

Carli have been backordered for a while now. They found issues with the quality of them a few months back. Last I heard they hadn't gotten it squared away yet...

 

Snap-On!

 

....... litl birdie told me they aint coming back! I think they may be stickin to suspension products.

 

I'd sure like to know where you heard this as I spoke directly with Carli about 2 -3 weeks ago and they were going into production with them and I'm sure if you call up one of their vendors you will find the backorders being filled soon and new ones being taken. Atleast thats what I was told directly by Carli and three of their Vendors when I contacted them.

So why would they not be coming out with the ball joints?

 

Laugh, but for 46.00, I bought the Harbor Freight tool.
It was the "Four Wheel Drive Ball Joint Kit".
Spoke to the manager of the store and he said it would be covered for breakage for 30 days.

I live in the land of heavy road salt usage in the winter.
My ball joints were one mass of rusty metal. All four !!!!!
I thought they were welded in place .

The Harbor Freight tool did not break, or crack.
I did use a torch to heat the area as I tightened the press.

Was not a difficult job at all.

 

Wrong.

And the main reason for the backorder is that demand has been 3 times what they had anticipated and their initial machinist couldn't keep up with out affecting quality. Sage then sought out a bigger company that could do the machine process is higher quantities while keeping the quality up where he needed it. The switch has taken some time and Sage has been overseeing alot of quality control on these new production units to insure that they are all that and a bag of chips.

 

Time will tell........and then my PERSONAL opinion will or will not be true.

 

I bent two Horrible Fright ball joint presses. Finally bought the OTC from Amazon. $256 and free shipping. A huge tool that would take a lot to break or bend it.