The ball joint press in action. In this photo the upper ball joint is coming out. You have to do the lower first in order to getk the upper out. See the bolt and ratchet coming out the lower joint hole?

You can rent the press at a local store. It was like $180 at Advance Auto, which is a bit much for a 60 dollar tool, but you get it back. There's a boat load of presses and receiving cups. Taking the joints out, you just use the right size receiving cup. Putting them in, play around with some of the cups to get a good configuration.

Pressing them out is tough. My leverage you see on the rachet didn't make it. Breaker bars are like 40 bucks. I went to home depot and got a piece of 3" dia., 4' long section of black pipe for 12 bucks. I won't be bending this thing...

Owner caption May 2010 · Photo 51 of 62