Dobinsons Billet UCA - ball joint???

[CT2M]

I purchased Bilstein 6112/6100's, Dobinsons Billet UCAs and variety of other minor components (KDSS, Dobinson sway links, etc) to upgrade my suspension.

My plan was to self install.

For context, the Dobinsons UCAs don't ship with ball joints, they instruct the buyer to press out the OEM ball joints and use those.

Has anyone installed these - if so, how did you go about pressing out the OEM ball joints from the UCA? Anyone DIY or did you take to a mechanic.

I tried already, and it didn't go so well. I used an Autozone rental press kit, followed the directions and cranked pretty hard on it and now theres a ring dug into the top of the joint. Feels like it doesn't want to get pushed out.

I called the Toyota dealership and the parts guy told me the ball joints are not supposed to be pressed out. On the sales diagram the ball joint and UCA appear as one. He told me they don't sell the ball joints, you'd have to buy the whole UCA. He told me not to try to press it out as I would damage the parts.

Any advice appreciated.

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[VBFD Taco]

Have you presented this issue to Dobinsons about what Toyota said?

 

[CT2M]

Update:

As I suspected, guy at the Toyota parts dept not fully knowledgeable.

I called Dobinsons and had a lengthy and helpful phone call with their support team who reassured me that you can press out the ball joints from Toyota OEM UCAs.

Very strange, but when I first uploaded the Dobinsons installation document, my internet browser didn't load the photos of the ball press components Dobinsons includes with the UCAs. These photos show that the ball joints need to be pressed up and out from underneath the UCAs. I was attempting the opposite because in the all the YouTube videos, the examples press down.

Either way, the stack of the adaptors and UCA wont fit inside the kind of rental kit you can get from Autozone. So I have to take it an off-road shop with a hydraulic press.

I also learned from Dobinsons that they are going to start sending them out with ball joints soon. So I may just send them back to Dobinsons and get ones with ball joints pressed in.

So yeah, for anyone who happens to be in this niche position - hope this helps.

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