I need to replace the ball joints on my dana 30. I broke a u-joint and axle shaft and in turn popped the ball joints out. We hammered them back in and pressed them in with a bottle jack.. set the weight of the vehicle on them and they held enough to get it off the trail. Then i had to trailer the rig home. Now do I need to use a 5+ ton press to do this? My buddy has a special tool/kit that presses ball joints in. It looks like a huge c-clamp. Do these actually work? It would be nice if we could put the ball joints in ourselves.

I used the C Clamp style press to get my Dana 44 balljoints in. Works like a charm if you use a heavy duty impact gun.

Yes that tool (ball joint press) works extremely well. They make short work of u-joint changes too.

Just go to Autozone and borrow a press for $100 dollars(fully refundable) This tool makes working on ball joints a piece of cake.

SOCALXJ- I would think you can do the ball joints yourself...without the assistance of a c-clamp or press. I've done mine 3 times now....just a love tap from a hammer and the right size hollow tubing was sufficient.

C-clamp w/ a (I stress) HD impact. A breeze, did it this weekend...

Thanks for all the info... i tore apart the whole thing this morning and should be ready to rumble tommorow...

Use the C-clamp. And what is really helpful (if you don't have a strong enough impact gun) is to use your highlift handle as a longer extension of the ratchet. Makes the job really easy! Shouldn't take you more than 1.5 hours a side...whatever you do, don't use Omix-Ada ball joints...the taper is incorrect and the steering knuckle will not fit correctly so you will have play. I used Moog HD truck ball joints for the D30 and they fit perfect.

While you have the hub out, check the steering knuckle. The round hole (where the hub goes thru) should be round, not mishaped. The Dana 30 knuckle has a tendency to oval after repeated abuse, especially rocks. :D