Anyone else make their own tools to do repairs on this truck? I have made a ball joint press, coil spring compressors, and an inner tie rod tool.

BALL JOINT PRESS: FLIP IT AROUND AND IT WILL PRESS THE NEW ONE IN.
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MY TIE ROD TOOL I MADE TO RESEMBLE THIS ONE ALONG WITH AN INSERT TO MATCH THE FLATS ON THE TIE ROD.
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Nice work on the press. I'd be interested in the spring compressor if you wouldn't mind sharing that tool hack.

 

Each block welded together was a solid block. I drilled a 5/8 hole all the way through on the longer side and the top side i either drilled a 5/8 hole or drilled and tapped it for 5/8. The 5/8 hole on the longer edge i cut it down the center with a band saw. Used an app on my phone to approximate the angle of the coils on the spring and welded the cut off portion at that angle. I used a 5/8 bolt that was 8" long. It works and holds good. I was hammering on the old shock while it was compressed and the compressors i made never slipped.

The diameter of the coil was around 5/8" so that's where that size came from, and I just used a 5/8" socket head cap screw because i knew it was strong enough and I already had the 5/8" drill bit out so no extra drill bit for the bolt clearance hole.

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Great work, thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks. The ball joint press was suppose to be one piece, but I screwed that up when I decided to change the design, mid way through, to lose some of the weight by making the outside diameter smaller. Forgetting that one end had a bigger inside diameter and bored deeper than the other, I ended up cutting it in half. Got lucky and found the middle section already containing a hole big enough for the shaft of the ball joint, and just decided to weld everything together instead of starting over.