Tried to push in my new ball joint on a 2004 2wd dodge last night. I now assume that i was supposed to take the boot off before trying to press it in. Because I didnt and the boot popped. Do I need to buy a new ball joint, or will it be okay. It has a grease nipple so I can grease it, and the tear is not that big, but I sure dont want to have to replace it again in a couple of months because sand and dirt got somewheres it doesnt need to be. Btw, everywhere that i looked and read, i never saw it say i needed to remove the boot and someone who is doing something he has no idea what he is doing, didnt know.

 

Ive never removed the boot. But if it is torn then you eventually will replace it. Is it under a lifetime warranty?

 

I didn't remove boot either. Just did mine this Monday.

I acually bought/used the harbor freight ball joint press and was pleasently surprized that it didn't break the first time I used it. Worked well.

 

not sure what i did wrong then, it looked fine when i took it out of the box, guess i will have to buy a new one. i just dont want the same thing to happen again because i dont know what caused this one to pop.

 

When I did mine, I had to go back to autozone and get the correct size sleeve attachment for the press tool so it would press on the edge of the ball joint and not the boot. It was a real PITA but once I got the right size adapter it made it easier.

 

if there is a tear in the boot you will need to get a new one.

 

before i screw up another one, i assume that it pushes in from the top down - the same direction that the other one pushed out

 

Starts underneath the control arm and pushes up into the control ARM (1500)