Well I've always done all the work on my car with the exception of wheel bearings. I'd always end up needing a shop to press them into the knuckles for me. Seeing as the car sees a lot of auto-x time, I usually end up replacing 'em once a year and hated dealing with the varoius shops. Well this time I decided to go and purchase my own hydraulic press. I ended up picking one up for $99 from Harbor Freight. It's a little small and only offers 12tons of pressure but it definately gets the job done. Took me about two hours or so to remove the knuckles and press new bearings/hubs into 'em. It was beautiful, no waiting around for the shop to finish, no calling around making shop appointments, just wam, bam, done. No serious DIYer should be without one of these puppies.

Link:
Harbor Freight 12ton press

 

not bad, only $99 huh? i'll have to gets me one.

 

If you plan to use it for wheel bearings I'll have to warn you. The press bed is somewhat small and therefore you'll find it impossible to press out the hub from the knuckle. I ended up having to use a gear puller to get the hub out. With that done I did the rest (press out bearing, press in bearing, press in hub, etc.) with the hydraulic press. Regardless, it's a great little unit for $99 and I'm sure I'll be using it again for some bushing replacements.

 

Wow, I didn't realize they would be this cheap. I might not need to buy a new hub @ 160 a pop every time I need bearings now, lol. Definately getting one as soon as I have some place to put it.

 

my friend thank you for a find like this...now i can do all the suspension work myself

 

A new hub everytime?!?!?! :o
Just get yourself a bearing splitter to remove the bearing race from the hub. You can buy one here for about $13.

Also, everyone needs to be aware that you'll need various sized press heads in order to work on the different sized components of the knuckle. I ended up going to Sears and just getting some three-quarter inch drive sockets. At around $15 bucks a pop, and me needing four different sizes, it did get a little bit expensive. But regardless, in the long run it's cheaper than going and having someone else press the bearings in for ya.

 

You know, now you're the coolest guy on the block! You will propably be getting some business proposals, lol.

 

it can be used for pression pins out of stock pistons,bushings for tralerarms if done right springs on struts

 

20 ton press here. Good stuff, although I'm not brave enough to do piston pins myself.