Help me find a ball joint tool

Okay, I'm reasonably happy with my Harbor Freight hinge-type tie rod/ball joint tool:

However, I've already had one false start on the van, and I'm not certain this one will fit on there; I don't want to start the project only to get stuck part way through, so I'm curious about the type pictured in the manual I've got: On a vehicle like the van which has an upright which is C-shaped which the upper and lower ball joints poke into from top and bottom of the C, this tool sits inside the C and has a cup at one end that fits over one of the ball joint studs, then has a threaded shaft with a pushing pad which rests on that cup and pushes against the opposite ball joint's pin. You expand the tool to press a ball joint out by its shaft. Once you've got one out, you turn it 180 degrees and do the other ball joint.

I can't seem to find a picture or an ad or anything. What are these called? Anybody know where to get one?

I could pull something together from sockets and allthread and nuts and bailing wire, but I don't have all those bits lying around, so I'd just as soon find out where I can get the tool all at once.

Thanks for any info...

you don't own a hammer?

something like this?

http://rodneydickman.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=176

What kind of vehicle are we working on again?

In reply to novaderrik:

So sue me, I like using a press. It's an awkward spot to swing a hammer at the ends of the joints to be discarded, and I haven't had consistent luck with the hitting-the-parent-part-from-both-sides operation. It just makes the whole operation simpler and easier.

I'm a big fan of having the tool that makes the job easier, even if I have some extra stuff rattling around in the toolbox...

In reply to Curmudgeon:

2001 Dodge B2500 van.

In reply to impulsive:

Very much like that; wonder how that thing is sized; I suspect things may not go well ordering a strangely Fiero-specific tool...

But yes, that's exactly the type of tool!

NAPA sells a hardened, thinner version of your HF one that is easier fot in tighter places if that is your concern. IIRC, it's $15.

C type is a ball joint press. I have had a cheap one from cummings tools for a few years it works good but not as good as an OTC or other quality brand. as the C flexes a bit on mine but it was under $40 8-10 years ago.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.frontiernet.net/~slray/04F250/BallJoints/BallJointPress-02.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.frontiernet.net/~jmray/F250BallJoints.htm&h=600&w=800&sz=100&tbnid=J1yPeyVu9Dh4cM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__MbrYEAEY61pI9i-tOM1mWIt15ck=&docid=fFheHMWMD9zpFM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nbUSUp6CBcbc4AOgqYCYBA&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQ9QEwBw&dur=125

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

The HF one I have is thinner than the one pictured and hardened (but still definitely HF...). I'm mostly looking into this other type because of concern that the hinge type in general won't fit for some reason which I'll discover with the van partially disassembled, and a general interest in what appears to be a less-heavily-stressed tool for this job, since the directly-opposed column has nothing loaded in bending.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

I phrased it badly, but the C-shape I was referring to was the upright, not the press. I have one of those, which I'll need for removing the lower ball joint from the control arm.

In reply to nobody in particular:

I'm sure I can do this job without it, I just find it a tidy solution to this version of this task, and if I can acquire one without a crazy expenditure it seems like good insurance against getting stuck partway through this job... I hate stopping for hiccups in the project, and I've been dreading this one for a lot longer than I should have been putting it off.

Also, thanks for the input!

ransom wrote: In reply to novaderrik: So sue me, I like using a press. It's an awkward spot to swing a hammer at the ends of the joints to be discarded, and I haven't had consistent luck with the hitting-the-parent-part-from-both-sides operation. It just makes the whole operation simpler and easier. I'm a big fan of having the tool that makes the job easier, even if I have some extra stuff rattling around in the toolbox...

you are working on a truck that is designed to be fixed by high school dropouts on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere..

get a bigger hammer and swing it like you are trying to destroy the part you are hitting... i bet there is a nice flat spot conveniently cast into the spindle next to the balljoints that looks very much like it's designed to be hit with a hammer- aim for that...

just loosen the nuts until they are flush with the stud and hit the spindle nice and hard and squarely... the spring pressure pops them loose, and the nuts hold it together until you can get a jack under the lower control arm to take the pressure off.. i like to do uppers first then lowers, but there is no reason why it can't work the other way..

novaderrik wrote: you don't own a hammer?

With the ball joint tool, you go from swinging a 4lb hammer in anger and damaging things, or driving a pickle fork with it and tearing the boot, to turning a screw and one sharp rap from a ball peen without hurting a thing, every time.

Its far more civilized and friendly to the poorly coordinated.

well, get better coordinated.

Why bother when for $15, I can just make things easier?

novaderrik wrote: well, get better coordinated.

This should be in the GRM mag "Say What? column.