Astro Pneumatic Tool 7865 Ball Joint Service Tool with 4-wheel Drive Adapters

This item is very strong and well made. However, it lacks in the adapter sleeves and will require some ingenuity when removing balljoints. I had to cut the stem off of the balljoint to have enough length for it to travel; because the sleeves were short. Works well for removing universal joints, but it's overkill and expensive if only used for this purpose. When it came to pressing in the new balljoint, again it wouldn't travel all the way up and I had to support the arm, using the sleeves, with another floor jack and lightly tap around the top to make it come through enough to install the spring clip. ***Update*** the very next day that this review was submitted, I used this item ( or more accurate I TRIED to) to replace the universal joints on the rear drive shaft. I take it all back! This thing is useless! Honestly. I had to use the shop press, because this product couldn't even reach to remove one set!Not to mention the adapters that came with it were absolutely useless.... Ugh..... Save yourself the frustration and money, don't purchase this. I DEFINITELY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!!!

I like Astro tools as they are much better than the typical variety available at the local HW store. Professional grade. I'm not a pro, but I suspect a lot of serious DIY folks like myself will want this tool because of Astro quality. That said, the instructions and attachment combinations, could be improved. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out to use the tool on a common GM, G Body, lower ball joint. Once I did figure it out, the tool worked great.

I ordered the Astro set expecting a better quality product as it was about twice the price and comparing pictures with other sets it seemed to have a better finish. To my dismay it arrived and the clamp seemed poorly machined with sloppy threads and the finish was not like in the pictures, but looked just like the cheaper sets. I re-boxed it and returned it within the hour. I re-ordered an OMT set at half the price and it looked as if it was made in the same place as the Astro set but without the clamp machining problems (although it to had a few quality issues with the Adapters (a couple painted over rust bubbles and a dented edge that I was able to un-dent). My feeling in the end is that the sets were probably identical (OMT's plastic carrying case was different and a little better) and you were at the mercy of poor factory quality control, so do not necessarily expect better quality just because you are paying more. I do not recommend the Astro set.

I needed to replace the differential-side u-joint on the rear driveshaft of my Jeep Liberty. I watched a few videos of people banging and pounding on the caps with sockets and hammers to remove the old joints and install the new ones. I then watched a video of somebody using a tool like this to do the job effortlessly, and knew which approach I wanted to take. This kit isn't the cheapest, but it's built like a tank, and did the job perfectly. The amount of time and effort it saved me is easily worth the asking price, not to mention I can use it for a variety of other suspension-related jobs.

This tool paid for its self and then some during its first use.Quote was 4 hours per side at over $100 per hour shop rate to do the lower ball joints on our SUV. This tool easily handled the job and will be around for probably the rest of my lifetime. The case is junky and will probably break but for the price I'm super happy. I also did some ATV joints by making an adapter out of pipe.The quality of the tool is great. I can't say for sure but I think that this would probably even work in a professional setting surprisingly. You would need more adapters though. Quality seems to be on par with the units that NAPA sells for twice the money. At the very least this would get you going for a few years until you can drop the bucks on a Snapon or something like that.