Review on 🔧 Efficient and Durable OrionMotorTech Heavy Removal Adapters for Trucks: Tools & Equipment by Steve Brethorst

I purchased this ball joint service kit to replace the ball joints on my 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4WD (I completed this job in February 2018). The C-frame is a beast and I was sure it would get the job done with ease. When I had it on the truck I was a little less sure. Those ball joints are definitely there. The kit is NOT perfect for this exact application, sometimes it moves. For me the best results came when I removed the bottom ball joint first, an impact wrench makes this a bit easier and I think it's more effective in loosening the ball joint. Removing the upper ball joint required more creativity. This cannot be done in a "normal" way because the diameter of the pull-off adapter is too large to expose the inside of the axle and the curvature of the earhook (i.e. it does not fit). Instead I had to run it "back" and put the bolt on the ball shaft, but the only way to do that is to thread the bolt through the hole in the lower ball joint axle yoke. I made the first upper ball joint with a large ratchet and ended up pushing the shaft (pin) right through the top of the joint assembly. In other words, the force blew the shaft right up to the top of the ball joint (the top ball joint on a 2500 is actually not a ball joint, it's a kingpin). At this point the shaft was removed but the ball joint housing was still 100% seated in the axle (not very good). This introduced me to a new problem as there was no adapter included that allowed me to extrude the top ball joint at that point. But I had a large metric nut that was shallow (i.e. not deep) and the diameter was perfect for the ball joint, I was able to improvise, and with the ball joint shaft gone I was now able to remove the nut as an adapter and remove the ball joint body from it extrude the axis (Cheers). For my second attempt with a different upper ball joint, I used an impact wrench and the job was MUCH smoother. The PTO shaft did not break through the top of the ball joint housing, it was slightly deformed, but the ball joint housing, which broke off the axle before the housing top failed, failed. The impact wrench made a big difference in my case. Installing the new hinges went MUCH better than removing them. Again, for my particular application, I had to carefully press the ball joints into the axle until the press was square. It takes a little patience. To make sure the new pivots didn't clamp badly, I had to press them down a bit, test them, and re-adjust the press if necessary to apply more force to a specific side to straighten it. Once the ball joint was seated deep enough, this wasn't a problem, but initial installation required patience. This is because the kit does not include adapters that are ideal for the task. For those of you with the same generation Dodge Ram 2500, Cummins, Drive Front, this kit will fit, but it's not perfect. , it worked. The tool did its job perfectly. Oh, one more thing, make sure you lubricate the press screw liberally or you will likely run into abrasions that can cause the press to crack or worse, you get stuck with a partially completed job. The lubrication makes the press work MUCH better. I used Permatex Anti-Sieze Compound which worked great.