Lower Balljoint question

[CB7Nub]

Does the lower balljoint need to be pressed into the lower control arm by a shop? Everyone says yes but my friend who worked at Honda says just hammer it in there. Is that proper?

Lower control arm and lower balljoint is new and not attached to any vehicle at the moment.

[deevergote]

Hammering a ball joint can be risky. A friend of mine did it once by putting the lower control arm in a vise and using a socket that was the exactly same diameter as the top of the ball joint to spread the impact evenly. He hit the socket, rather than the joint directly, if that makes sense.

[GeoffM]

The ball joint is pressed into the knuckle, not the LCA.....
For my friends, we hammered the old ones out, and used a ball peen hammer to hammer the new ones in. There are videos in the beginner technical stickies. We followed those. We also did the wheel bearings following those videos, but I'd recommend have those pressed on by a shop. The first one we did we hammered on and it went bad about a week later. Of course, it was an autozone bearing, so that might've had something to do with it.

[short1]

Throw the balljoints in the freezer the night before or a couple hours before you put them in, use a wooden dowel as a damper to tap them in with a hammer. With the balljoint that cold it won't take much effort at all to tap them into the knuckle.

short

[GeoffM]

Putting them in isn't difficult, it's getting them out where you'll run into problems...

[JaberCB7]

you can put them in using hammer, i used a block of wood and hammered the wood instead of the ball joint

[bobbycos]

Hammering a ball joint can be risky. A friend of mine did it once by putting the lower control arm in a vise and using a socket that was the exactly same diameter as the top of the ball joint to spread the impact evenly. He hit the socket, rather than the joint directly, if that makes sense.

The ball joint is pressed into the knuckle, not the LCA.....
For my friends, we hammered the old ones out, and used a ball peen hammer to hammer the new ones in. There are videos in the beginner technical stickies. We followed those. We also did the wheel bearings following those videos, but I'd recommend have those pressed on by a shop. The first one we did we hammered on and it went bad about a week later. Of course, it was an autozone bearing, so that might've had something to do with it.

Throw the balljoints in the freezer the night before or a couple hours before you put them in, use a wooden dowel as a damper to tap them in with a hammer. With the balljoint that cold it won't take much effort at all to tap them into the knuckle.

short

you can put them in using hammer, i used a block of wood and hammered the wood instead of the ball joint

i am kinda noticing a theme here.

hammer them in but do not directly hit them

[quaidum]

I have always used an air hammer to remove and install them. It is very easy if you get the right spot, and it doesn't put that much of an indention on the cap unless you are bouncing around

i haven't had a problem with my coupe or my wagons lower ball joint yet either(after delivering for 12k miles on the coupe or 7k on the wagon)

BTW i have always used HONDA ball joints

also forgot to mention use some sand paper in the knuckle bore to get a nice smooth surface, then clean real well and add some grease to ease installation