https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-4-in-1-ball-joint-service-kit.html I want to replace all the control arms in my 67 wagon when I do the engine swap. I have used arms and needed to remove the ball joints and bushings. I wanted the OTC but at over $100 it was too pricey for something I will likely use once. Eastwood had this on sale so with shipping it was $70. I figured the quality would be good enough since it was Eastwood. It comes with several adapters to use on different control arms. To get the lower CA ball joint out I had to shave a bit off the medium round adapter so it would fit flush. I saw this on the some of the you tube videos so I was not surprised. But, as with many of these kits the adapters were not completely useful, but a good start. You will still have to improvise: You can see in the above picture I had to use a socket to press on the ball joint. Getting the bushings out was the same story - different cylinders/sockets to make it all work out. I did cut some pipe in half to support the ears on the lower CA bushings. I have also seen angle iron used. You will want to use an impact wrench to turn the press. That makes it very easy. The kit worked, but was not "plug and play". So the kit: made in China(no surprise) but up to the task. The threads were loose, in that you could wiggle the threaded rod in the C clamp. It did not seem to matter, but more an indication of the quality. Bottom line - the same kit is available much cheaper from other suppliers. https://www.amazon.com/BTSHUB-Ball-...cphy=9008145&hvtargid=pla-1028813043986&psc=1 I have not "held" or used the cheaper kit, but you can see it looks identical. I do not see any advantage to buying from Eastwood and would get the cheaper kit if I had to do it again. I will update after I reassemble the arms. Now they are off to the powder coater!
Thanks for the review Bill! I bought one of the Amazon kits last year. I was shopping for one on there, and on the fence about buying it, for the same reasons. A week or so later I got an email from Amazon that they had the same kit in an open box return for half price which made it way more attractive. While I have not used it for the control arm bushings and ball joints yet, I did end up using it to replace the U-joints in my 2500 series Suburban, and it worked great. When I get around to the suspension and brake rebuild, I'll post up on it again.
