For a reasonable price? I've been out of the car loop for WAY too long but I want to get my dad's '66 SWB Chevy pickup running for him. I bought all of the suspension from an '84 pickup and I want to rebuild it all. I went by South Austin Machine Shop but I don't have $130 to spend on removing the control arm bushings and 2 lower ball joints. Does anyone know of a machine shop in Central, Texas that can do it for less? Thanks guys!
You: http://shopping.yahoo.com/743367554-powerbuilt-21-piece-ball-jointu-joint-service-kit-648602/ Or equivalent. Or rent it, for super cheap, or in some cases, free. At least here, places such as AutoZone, loan tools. You have to leave a deposit, of the purchase price, in case you don't return it, but when you do, you get a full refund. So, not a rental, but a free loan.
Rent a ball joint press from your local parts store and press the ball joints out and back in yourself...take it back when you are done and they will give you your money back. With the control arms off the car you should be able to handle the ball joints pretty easily. The bushings, however, will probably require the use of a shop press.
Hmm I will look into it. I had no idea they rented them. I rented a pickle fork today because mine is all splayed out and wouldn't pop the control arm loose.
OReilly will rent you the tool and refund your rent/deposit when you bring it back......net result if you take it back is = FREE...........
I think they work well. I picked up a rental set years ago from a newly opened store and was the first to use it. 7yrs later and I never got around to returning it. I've done countless ball joints, misc bushings and other odd jobs. It was one of the bigger sets. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I just rented a coil spring compressor from OReilly and it worked very well. So well I kept it.............(if you keep it you don't get your deposit back.....same as purchasing it).
$130 isn't that bad for a pair of arms being practically rebuilt. Truck arms have that shaft between the bushings. I've driven 'em out with an air chisel once the bushing shell is split open. You have to get access to that inner sleeve. I drive the new ones in with a big socket and BFH and some never-seize. The lower ball joints have to go in dead-square or you egg out the hole in the arm and they don't stay in. Bob
if you have the control arms off & get the old balljoints out, you can freeze the new b-joints for 18-24 hours then tap them in with a small hammer
If you have the front crossmember from the '84 , it's dam near a bolt-in replacement for the '66 , plus their is an install kit to use the '84 steering box on the '66 frame.... do some investigating !! dave
The ball joint press kits they rent from Oreillys or Auto Zone or wherever are usually the OTC sets...at least in my experience they are OTC. They work very well, just do yourself and the next guy who rents it a favor and put some anti-sieze on the threads before you get started. Also, if you do manage to wallow out the holes for the lower ball joints, or they are FUBAR, most of the big chain stores do sell oversized ball joints to prevent you from having to replace the entire control arm. Autozone Duralast PN FA3001.
I always make sure that the ball joint starts out as squarely as possible. I even clean up the hole with emery and solvent so I can see what I'm doing. You can usually tap the ball joint in very slightly and check it before you hang the press on the arm. Egged out ones, I've seen them tack welded in 3 places and that worked. Bob
When I install press-in ball joints, once I have some pressure on it with the ball joint tool I will give the control arm a few whacks with a ball-peen hammer, turn the big screw another few turns to apply more pressure and again whack the control arm. I keep doing this until the ball joint is fully seated in the control arm. The vibrations from the hammer hitting the control arm allow the ball joint to travel further into the hole than with just pressure alone from the ball joint press. Some people will run ball joints down with an impact gun on the ball joint press, but if you are even slightly crooked you will trash the control arm real quick...if you use a big 1/2" breaker bar and take your time, if you see you arent going in exactly straight you can back up and start over. I can't say I have ever seen a ball joint tack welded to a control arm, but I guess it could work in a pinch.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Upper...Parts_Accessories&hash=item485bb6ae10&vxp=mtr you can't hardly buy the parts for this. and they're clean!!
Well hell, I wish I would have seen that. I just rented the ball joint tool and after 20 minutes of fucking with it I got the ball joints out in 2 minutes. Thanks guys! Now I need to figure out the cross shafts and A-Arm bushings
The upper ball joints are the easy ones IMO. Cut a notch in the top of the rivets with a cutoff wheel then grab an air chisel and knock the rivet heads off, drive them down with a punch and you are ready to bolt in the new ones. But, it would be more cost effective and wayyyyyyy easier just to buy new control arms with new bushings and ball joints already installed!
Shit the upper ball joints were bolted in. The arms are from an '84 Pickup. I just have to figure out the cross shafts for the uppers and lower and I am good to go on blasting and having them PC'd
The bushings should be easier to get out if you heat them up with a propane torch until they sizzle like a hamburger and then pop the rubber part out. -don't burn them. I think I learned this trick here on the hamb. Hammer out the outer shell with an air chisel.
My internet search found this ten year old thread so here goes- All the control arm bushings and ball joints on my OT impala are shot. With my work schedule I have decided to pay to have it done. Before I start checking with shops that I think would be up for the job figured I would ask here. There was a guy I had do some work by Oltorf and South congress but his little garage is now a vape shop. Any recommendations?
The hard part is the shaft is in the way Rent a long barreled air chisel that will let you work out one of the bushings so you can get the shaft out
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