How To: Upper Control Arm / Ball Joint Replacement (Lots of Pictures)

[cableguyjjs3]

Ok so I got a dumb question. I just replaced all the ball joints in my truck and when I went to align the truck they couldnt align it due to not enough movement in the bolts. Now I looked at the pictures in the begining of this thread and my bolts arent the same as the ones pictured. They have a square washer on the nut end as opposed to the elliptical one I saw pictured. Now after some more reasearch I find there is a replacement bolt kit available, Im assuming it has the elliptical washer shown in the pics, but my question is this...why in the hell does mine have a square washer that allows for zero movement and therefore you cant align the damn truck??? It makes no sense to me whatsoever. The truck has 235k miles on it, I took out the original ford control arms, and thats what I found?? anyone got any suggestions on this one???

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Your truck is an early 2nd gen and a 2wd, there is no telling what the assembly line had going on with that one :scratch: I'd say the bolt kit is what you need. Did you replace the passenger side UCA with a one or two piece?

 

[cableguyjjs3]

Yeah your right no tellin what they did on there, just bunch of crap if you ask me. I dont see how the truck could have ever had a proper alingment on it. The pockets where the control arm mounts to in the frame has ears in it and that square washer fits tight in between them ears. Now on the head end of the bolt that has the elliptical washer and when you take the nut off and slip the square washer off you turn the head of the bolt and the control arm slide in and out giving you your camber/caster adjustment. But if the bolt isnt in the right spot the square washer wont go back on and fit right between the ears and its further complicated by the flat spot on the bolt and the matching cut out in the washer. Just a bunch crap really, and pissed me off to boot I spent 4 hours at the alignment shop tryin to get the damn thing aligned and it wouldnt happen, and I was right in there lookin at the thing with the guy so I saw it all first hand. Oh well I guess I just order a couple of them bolt kits and replace them and get it aligned then. But I did replace the passenger side with a one piece and tossed that 2 piece crap in the trash can. The local autozone wanted 40 bucks each for the lowers and 100 bucks each for the uppers, I bought both uppers and both lowers in a kit off of ebay for $140 shipped, not a bad deal if you ask me.

 

[cruz38]

Bolt Replacement

My alignment shop guy said that when they came off the line the setting with the immovable bolts was set from the factory. After the driving and loosening up of the ball joints they then get out of alignment and then the eliptical bolts are necessary to realign these monsters. Acutally I think it was great that I never had to buy a set of tires or have it aligned till I was at 153000 miles!!

Not to many cars can do that!

Cruz

 

[cableguyjjs3]

Yeah I suppose your right, I never looked at it that way, not having to align it until major suspension work was done. I guess it just got me bent out of shape because I took the time to read through these posts to make sure I knew what all I was getting into, even though I was mainly looking at seeing if it was a problem to change the 2 piece right side to a 1 piece style. It never dawned on me about the bolts, and I guess I just read right over those posts and it didnt hit me. So no one to really blame but myself there, I just hate doing work twice. And dont get me wrong, this is by no means my fist dance with suspension work, I could change these ball joints with my eyes closed, its the exact same style as my t-bird, with the ball joint/control arm all one piece, just my t-bird adjusts the camber/caster in the strut not the ball joint is all. Anyways, no point in griping about it now, I'll just order the bolt kits and when I get time change em out and get the damn thing aligned, lol.

 

[Rickshaw Driver]

I dug into it this weekend to make sure I didn't order parts I don't need. Boy was I happy when I climbed under and happen to notice zerk fittings on the lowers. I cleaned them off a bit and what did I see? M O O G! Love that feeling of saving 100 bucks. Boots on them looked great, but the uppers not so much. I could stick my finger in both of the uppers. Also when I had the tire on but of the ground I could pull and push the top of the tire. It wasn't much, but enough that I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be doing that. Outside of my front tires look great, the inner 1" is worn almost to steel belt. 111k miles on the truck and I'm pretty sure the uppers have never been changed.

Two one piece uppers on the way from rockauto this week. A cold beer, this guide, PB Blaster and a BFH is in my near future.

 

[xxdrvxx]

Differnent Ball joint parts

So I have an 2001 Explorer Sport trac. I haven't done any upkeep on this truck at all and I'm finding out that not doing anything has led to alot of things gone bad. First off the ball joints are messed up so the tires got messed up. I've set off on a mission to fix everything on the truck. First I put new brakes on and now new tires. Now I'm doing the ball joints. I got all the new parts this last weekend and Now I'm going to install.


First off I notice that the left and the right are different. For the Pass side I got the smaller peice due to I don't need to replace any bushings. I assume the best is to take pictures of it and take some measurement and mark it with a black marker. Then I can put the new UCA on the Pass side in the same exact spot.

For the driver side I mark were the round washers adjusters are about and then when putting it all back together align the marks as best as possible.


Then off for an alignment.


I have a question about removing the 4x4 drvie shaft. It says to torqe it to something like 162 foot pounds. The only way I can assume that this can be done is to put it all back together like normal and then lower the tire down enough to get traction and then toruqe it. I mean the threads on the shaft move so there shouldn't be any problems with binding or anything. I'm doing it tomorrow so I better research it tonight.

Another question is how much grease would I put in the joints and how often should I put grease in them?

What issues am I going to run into? I'm going out and buying a 260 piece tool set but I'm thinking I should get a breaker bar and some bigger sockets for the bolts that need them. I'll pull the tire first and make sure I have all the sockets I need before I go any furthure. It's much easier putting the tire back on and going to get the right sockets. I'll take pictures and post them also. The right side looks differnet and I think that may confuse alot of people. It did to me anyways.

Also I've seen posts of people saying then have some sort of vibration. What could that be from? Is it the tire not touching the ground in a certian way after the new install?

Thanks

 

[MountaineerGreen]

So I have an 2001 Explorer Sport trac. I haven't done any upkeep on this truck at all and I'm finding out that not doing anything has led to alot of things gone bad. First off the ball joints are messed up so the tires got messed up. I've set off on a mission to fix everything on the truck. First I put new brakes on and now new tires. Now I'm doing the ball joints. I got all the new parts this last weekend and Now I'm going to install.


First off I notice that the left and the right are different. For the Pass side I got the smaller peice due to I don't need to replace any bushings. I assume the best is to take pictures of it and take some measurement and mark it with a black marker. Then I can put the new UCA on the Pass side in the same exact spot.

For the driver side I mark were the round washers adjusters are about and then when putting it all back together align the marks as best as possible.


Then off for an alignment.


I have a question about removing the 4x4 drvie shaft. It says to torqe it to something like 180 foot pounds. The only way I can assume that this can be done is to put it all back together like normal and then lower the tire down enough to get traction and then toruqe it. I mean the threads on the shaft move so there shouldn't be any problems with binding or anything. I'm doing it tomorrow so I better research it tonight.

Another question is how much grease would I put in the joints and how often should I put grease in them?

What issues am I going to run into? I'm going out and buying a 260 piece tool set but I'm thinking I should get a breaker bar and some bigger sockets for the bolts that need them. I'll pull the tire first and make sure I have all the sockets I need before I go any furthure. It's much easier putting the tire back on and going to get the right sockets. I'll take pictures and post them also. The right side looks differnet and I think that may confuse alot of people. It did to me anyways.

Also I've seen posts of people saying then have some sort of vibration. What could that be from? Is it the tire not touching the ground in a certian way after the new install?

Thanks

The different sides are common- it is much easier to only replace the outer portion on the passenger side. Some choose to replace it with a one piece unit.

You should really consider new lower ball joints, they fail way more often than uppers and can cause uneven tire wear.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225

And torquing the axle nuts is just a matter of a breaker bar and 32mm socket, I get mine as tight as I can and have never had a problem.

You will need for a stock front end- 15mm for caliper bracket bolts and the nut on the pinch bolts at the UBJ connection to the knuckle. Maybe a 13mm on the bolt head. 21mm on the castle nut on the tie rod, 21 or 24 on the lower ball joint castle nut. You'll need a 21mm deepwell for the camber adjusters on the drivers side- you may can do with a standard socket, but a deepwell is better. Pliers, hammer, pry bar, bailing wire are also good things to have handy.

 

[Druss_97EBX]

question bout the 97 exploder

I have a 97 exploder 6cyl awd/4wd. I have read conflicting information about if i must replace the upper control arm with the ball joint, or if i can just wrestle with the ball joint and replace it all by its lonesome. Seems that they do sell just the ball joints for my year, which leads me to believe i do not need to pay the extra money for another arm if its in good shape. (I realize that getting the arm with the joint in it is far easier to deal with)

Im seeing at oreilly auto that

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $117.99
Item #: K8708T
LEFT
w/BALL JOINT & BUSHING

But there are two passenger side options from MOOG:

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $142.99
Item #: K80068
RIGHT
1 PC DESIGN

&

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $117.99
Item #: K8710T
RIGHT
w/BALL JOINT


The $142.99 one's picture looks as though the ball joint and boot are already in the arm, but the description does not mention it.

Also MountaineerGreen, i noticed in your pictures that you did not have to use the rentable clamp from the parts store. When i asked about it they said if it has 4x4 then you will most likely need it. any info there?

Much obliged...

 

[xxdrvxx]

Upper Control arm

So I got everything done on the passenger side but now I'm on the drivers side and I can't get the Upper Control Arm off. Here's what the deal is. The fuel line is in the way.. Some brake lines are in the way.. One big pipe for something is in the way.. I can't get the bolts out far enouph to get the UCA off.. It's totally dumb how they mount and bend everything in the way.


So question is what and where do I remove to get all this out of the way? It's been a pretty easy job so far. Just take your time and make sure you do each step carefully. My ball joints could be put in by hand.. Found out that if you're going to replace the lowers.. You need to put on some Moog oversize ball joints. I didn't have them, so I had to take my old ball joint in to get measured, and they got me a set within a few hours.

Well let me know on the control arms. It's not so easy with everything in the way..

 

[xxdrvxx]

The different sides are common- it is much easier to only replace the outer portion on the passenger side. Some choose to replace it with a one piece unit.

You should really consider new lower ball joints, they fail way more often than uppers and can cause uneven tire wear.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225

And torquing the axle nuts is just a matter of a breaker bar and 32mm socket, I get mine as tight as I can and have never had a problem.

You will need for a stock front end- 15mm for caliper bracket bolts and the nut on the pinch bolts at the UBJ connection to the knuckle. Maybe a 13mm on the bolt head. 21mm on the castle nut on the tie rod, 21 or 24 on the lower ball joint castle nut. You'll need a 21mm deepwell for the camber adjusters on the drivers side- you may can do with a standard socket, but a deepwell is better. Pliers, hammer, pry bar, bailing wire are also good things to have handy.

Not to mention you WILL need a 32mm Socket for the drive shaft. Get a break bar for this also as it is on there very tight. I think the Torque spec on the 4x4 drive shaft is like 180ft pounds. Not sure if it needs to be at that though. Just get it as tight as you can with your break bar. It doesn't offer any suspension but it does need to be right in the hub. if a normal size person put most of his weight into it thats all that is needed I think. No need to stand on it though.. LOL

 

[xxdrvxx]

Control Arm Update

So I got everything done on the passenger side but now I'm on the drivers side and I can't get the Upper Control Arm off. Here's what the deal is. The fuel line is in the way.. Some brake lines are in the way.. One big pipe for something is in the way.. I can't get the bolts out far enouph to get the UCA off.. It's totally dumb how they mount and bend everything in the way.


So question is what and where do I remove to get all this out of the way? It's been a pretty easy job so far. Just take your time and make sure you do each step carefully. My ball joints could be put in by hand.. Found out that if you're going to replace the lowers.. You need to put on some Moog oversize ball joints. I didn't have them, so I had to take my old ball joint in to get measured, and they got me a set within a few hours.

Well let me know on the control arms. It's not so easy with everything in the way..

Well 12 hours later I got the job done.. So the Upper Control Arm on the passenger side is a total pain. The rear bolt has to go above the fuel line. Don't punch or hit the bolt, you might hit the fuel line and then it's game over! Just keep moving the bolt back and forth. The front bolt you need to turn a few times but there is a space for it and it will come out. I found that there was something holding a wire wrap that is a heavy steel peice. I removed that and I could get all the way in there to get the bolt out.


On a 2001 Explorer Sport Trac the Bolts are round on one side. They are squar and only fit in one way. I'm thinking the alignment isn't done on the Driverside for a Sport Trac. There is an adjustment on the two peice upper Control arm on the passenger side. Either way I just made sure I had the same hardward on the front and on the back of the driverside. That way it should all be really close.

Taking it in for an alignment tomorrow. I'm going to ask them to look over all my work to make sure I did it right. The guide on here helped a ton!

 

[xxdrvxx]

Ball joint with 4x4

I have a 97 exploder 6cyl awd/4wd. I have read conflicting information about if i must replace the upper control arm with the ball joint, or if i can just wrestle with the ball joint and replace it all by its lonesome. Seems that they do sell just the ball joints for my year, which leads me to believe i do not need to pay the extra money for another arm if its in good shape. (I realize that getting the arm with the joint in it is far easier to deal with)

Im seeing at oreilly auto that

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $117.99
Item #: K8708T
LEFT
w/BALL JOINT & BUSHING

But there are two passenger side options from MOOG:

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $142.99
Item #: K80068
RIGHT
1 PC DESIGN

&

MOOG - Upper Control Arm = $117.99
Item #: K8710T
RIGHT
w/BALL JOINT


The $142.99 one's picture looks as though the ball joint and boot are already in the arm, but the description does not mention it.

Also MountaineerGreen, i noticed in your pictures that you did not have to use the rentable clamp from the parts store. When i asked about it they said if it has 4x4 then you will most likely need it. any info there?

Much obliged...

Renting the press is free.. Use it! It works like a champ. You can feel when the ball is seated and then just give it one more press to make sure it's flush all the way around it.

I got the uppers for mine for 65$ a peice and the lower moog ball joint for 45$ a peice each. Go with moog oversize on the bottom. I guess the bore hole opens a little from the first press. Well mine dide. Ask your parts dealer about what should be used.

Good luck. It's an easy job but it took along time. Just make sure you have lots of tools. I went out and got the 265 peice tool from sears for 200$. It was a great investment in my mind! Plus get a 32mm socket and a break bar. You will need that for the center hub nut to slide the shaft off.

 

[Rickshaw Driver]

Well guys, need some help. I got the UCA's changed on both sides without too much trouble. That front driver side one is a pain in the butt with the power steering line in the way. Anyhow, I was putting the driver side back together, got the front in place, went to put the back cam/bolt on and for the life of me I can't find my cam. I am stumped. I sat right there the whole time and so I know it was sitting next to me. I spent a good 1 - 2 hours simply searching for it since it's the last thing I have to do. My question is this:

If I order part number Part # 45K0072 from Rock, is that going to fit even though it's not square like the oem ones? Will I need to take the other three back off and replace all of them? The others are in good shape so no need unless the alignment won't be able to be adjusted if I don't. Really could use some help, I'm frustrated as could be.

Thanks guys/gals

 

[Druss_97EBX]

Moog states that their ball joints wont fit OEM control arms, at least I see this on the auto parts website when I am looking up these parts for my 97 explorer. Is this true, or a way for Moog to get you to buy their control arms as well? Just wanna know if I should buy just the joints and save money, or the whole arm with joint in it for an easier job.

 

[Rickshaw Driver]

Moog states that their ball joints wont fit OEM control arms, at least I see this on the auto parts website when I am looking up these parts for my 97 explorer. Is this true, or a way for Moog to get you to buy their control arms as well? Just wanna know if I should buy just the joints and save money, or the whole arm with joint in it for an easier job.

It's not really that they won't fit, but Ford made the OEM control arm and upper ball joints inseparable. So while technically they won't fit the OEM arms, it is because the OEM arms can't be separated from the upper ball joints. Once you replace with MOOG control arms/ball joints you can then separate them and replace only the ball joint from there on out. That is if the truck outlives the replacement ball joints.

 

[Druss_97EBX]

That makes sense, and answers my questions. thanks!

 

[Dust1n8]

Can not get left cam bolt out.

The cam bolt on right side(sorry, not left side) runs into strut tower and an A/C line. All that is left is 3/4 '' and the bolt will be out. I am affraid of prying on the A/C line to much. Can I cut the bolt off and put a new one in via the opposite direction, or will that be a terrible idea?

 

[Dust1n8]

cam bolt

Sorry this is my second post I see that quite a few people already posted the above question.

New question, when I enevitable get frusterated with the bolt and resort to cutting it off can I put a new one in opposite direction so the square plate will be facing in torwards the spindel?

 

[CDW6212R]

The washers are shaped to fit in the proper side, they are the adjustment of the camber. You can install the bolt head and nut on either side if you can get at them with tools.