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I'm thinking of getting a shop press for doing things like rear wheel bearings, auto transmission clutch packs AND balljoint and brake rotor rivets.
Any idea what kind of tonnage I would need to properly squeeze the ball joint and brake rotor rivets? I'm hoping a 20ton unit would work but what do you all think?
The auto transmission clutch packs are easy -- anything more than three tonnes and you are doing something wrong. At school we use a hand operated press (no hydraulics) that looks like a C-clamp on steroids. They come in the range of 3 tonnes or so. I think the rear wheel bearings are the biggest -- certainly 20 tonnes and maybe more. I don't know about the rivets.
Spelling tonnes this way in honor of the Canadian members – today is the release of the Ron Fellows Special edition 2007 Z06. Oh Canada.!
Sorry I didn't mean to confuse the issue -- I meant tons American measure -- not metric tonnes. I was just trying to have some fun, and got carried away.
I bought a 12 ton press about a year ago. I used it when I rebuilt my differential and 4 spd. It has also come in handy for many other things. The only time I had trouble with it was during the 4 speed rebuild, It just didn't have enough pressure to press off one of the gears from the main shaft. I took it to a friend who had a 20 ton press and it came off easily with his press.
Hindsight being what it is....... I should have bought a 20 ton press.
As for the ball joint rivets, I can't help there. Have not done that yet.
A 20 ton press is the best, overall unit for a home shop. You can purchase these for not very much more than the cost of lesser-rated hydraulic presses. If you get into something greater than 20 tons, you usually get into much bigger money and a much bigger unit (which, of course, takes up more available space). So, I think that anything bigger than 20 tons is impractical for most folks at home workshops.
The 20 ton press will do virtually all automotive press jobs. The number of things that you MIGHT run into that requires more pressure won't justify the extra cost of a press with a rating higher than 20 tons.
Also, I don't think that you're going to find a press that will do brake drum rivets in a satisfactory manner.
Keep in mind that the down side to a big press is that if your not careful, you can really mess up components with all that power being applied the wrong way.
But I guess a twelve can also create a lot of havoc too
Looks like a 20 ton...not tonne will be the smallest that I would want to go. Just wonder if it will be enough for those PITA balljoint and brake rotor/drum rivets...
I can't comment on your question about setting ball joint rivets with an arbor press, because I just don't know what equipment companies like Bairs use for that. It may be some kind of impact device as opposed to an arbor press.
Regarding your purchase choices, I wanted to mention the value of having a pressure gauge on your press. As has been pointed out, a 20 ton press can do some damage if you are not careful. I'm a big fan of having a pressure gauge on my arbor press so that I know how much pressure I am applying. The gauge is very useful for things like pressing a bearing into place, because the sudden increase in pressure gives you early warning that the bearing is seated. There are many other situations where the added information provided by a pressure gauge can help you stay out of trouble.
These days, most consumer arbor presses from places like Harbor Freight come without a pressure gauge, and the cheap bottle jacks provided with these presses do not have provisions for a gauge.
The attached photo shows an AF&F press that I bought that came with a generic bottle jack that had no provisions for a gauge. I ended up buying a Norco bottle jack and matching Norco gauge, and installed them in the AF&F frame.
The cost of the Norco bottle jack and gauge was almost as much as the entire AF&F press, including the bottle jack that came with the press. However, this was my second arbor press (an upgrade from an older 12 ton). The other press had a pressure gauge and I was just too accustomed to having a gauge to live without one on my new press.
I am looking for a source that carries the correct windshield gasket with a small raised bead on the outer lower portion of the gasket which raps around the bottom of the windshield. All the repro gaskets I have found do not have this small raised bead on them. As usuall any help will be appreciated, thanks, Ray
The best way to get the most attention to your question is to go to the top of the index page and click on "Post New Message". Everyone on this thread is thinking about hydraulic presses, and attention to any thread diminishes after the first several posts...you can tell from the "hit count" after the posts.
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