Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures)

[cadmunky]

i gotta pipe in here and say thanks all for the information you've placed here. i'm tackling my uppers and lowers this weekend, with a little serpentine belt and parking brake cable thrown in for good measure.

wish me luck and a heavy hammer.

 

[bobflood]

Question: Is process much different for a 2WD?? Tried to get mine aligned and was told need new upper and lower ball joints on one side (Hard to believe after just 235K miles!!)

 

[hasben]

Wonderfully written and shown, did as asked and threw in the 20 bucks as soon as I could. If had more would give more

 

[Trailbum]

Did the lower ball joints on my 2000 Explorer Sport (2WD) this afternoon. I didn't remove the steering knuckle, just tied it up and out of the way. I also didn't remove the tie rod or upper ball joint from the steering knuckle. I used a fork to separate the lower ball joint from the spindle. Borrowed a ball joint press from Advance Auto and it worked pretty well to remove the old ball joints.
I kept my new ball joints in the freezer until I was ready to install them. Was able to tap the driver side in completely with a hammer and the correct sleeve from the ball joint press. I was able to get the right side ball joint most of the way in using the same method. Had to use the press to seat it.
Overall, the job went well and much quicker than I expected it to.... Freezing the new ball joints beforehand, contracts the metal slightly, making them easier to press in!!!! Your mileage may vary....

 

[Chzyrider]

Possibly a dumb a question, but how do you know if the lower ball joints need replacing? I can see that my upper ones do because the rubber part is torn, but the lowers don't seem as obvious to me.

With the vehicle raised so the tires are off the ground and pointing forward, grab the tire from top/bottom and push/pull to feel for any movement. Do the same on the front/back of the tire to check the tie-rods for any in/out movement. An assistant can be helpful with this so you can stick your head under the car to actually 'see' and confirm where any movement is coming from if your not familiar with the "feel" of detecting a worn suspension part.

I am having to do the same job of replacing the ball joints on my son's '99 Mountaineer and I was a bit confused...until I saw this thread.

According to the Haynes book, it appears I have to remove the old control arms either way. It indicates in multiple places that to replace the lower ball joints on '95/later, that I must replace the entire control arm... yet my local (Knechts) parts store indicates a separate replacement ball joint that must be pressed into place (at a machine shop). So I checked two other auto parts store's online parts system; Autozone only showed the control arm, yet Napa also showed the separate ball joint being available for this year.

Has anyone else here came across this contradiction? If I had followed the book and if I had only looked at Autozone, it would have cost me the entire arm and a lot more work versus just the cost of the ball joint and minimal work. I already have the big ball joint press tool shown (from other jobs) so it's a bit of a relief to see it can be done at home and I won't have to take the arms completely off and down to the machine shop for this service.

One trick I would try is to pre-support the control arm with wood blocks to start at a better angle with the floorjack if the press will not get it started in the hole.

 

[bobflood]

Trailbum - Great idea re freezing the parts; have to try that. Thanks!

 

[LuketheDuke]

I am new to the forum so I am very sorry if this has already been said. I have a 1999 stock ford explorer sport 4x4. The lower ball joint is wearing down and I want to know if I have to replace the entire control arm to replace the ball joint.

 

[bobflood]

Luke - Go to the very start of this thread. MountaineerGreen did a great job - with pictures - of describing the whole process. It's also the first sticky on this forum.

 

[rhinodep]

I am new to the forum so I am very sorry if this has already been said. I have a 1999 stock ford explorer sport 4x4. The lower ball joint is wearing down and I want to know if I have to replace the entire control arm to replace the ball joint.

I'm a noob here too, Luke, if not by join date then by post count, so I know what it's like to get info overload. On most models in this forum, the UPPER ball joints are part of the control arm, but the LOWER ball joints are not. UPPER joints you DO have to replace the whole arm, LOWER you DO NOT. Hope that helps.

 

[95ExpLim]

The lower control arm allows replacing just the ball joint...what about the bushings the lower arm swings in?

Do you have to buy the complete LCA to get them?

Didn't see a listing for bushings on Rockauto...

 

[gavin]

The lower control arm allows replacing just the ball joint...what about the bushings the lower arm swings in?

Do you have to buy the complete LCA to get them?

Didn't see a listing for bushings on Rockauto...

I can't remember who, but somebody did replace them, although it wasn't easy.

I'm thinking it was Turdle?

if I remember correctly, it took more than a 12-ton shop press to press the old bushings out, and they actually went shooting out.

 

[joecrna]

Generally, the whole control arm must be replaced.

 

[croom9]

Just did my Uppers and Lowers over the weekend AND filmed it check it out I hope you find it helpful..... and I especially like Trailbum 's nifty little trick I would have never imagined such a thing but hey if it works have at it now i cant wait for ball joints to go on one of my other cars so i can try it!

 

[jerrykhilton]

Thank you for such a great post with pictures. It helped very much and is greatly appreciated. Because of this post I was able to fix my explorer. The idea of the jack made the job much easier.

 

[ndfangoirish]

Supporting the torsion bar

Great info I greatly appreciate all the pictures and instructions! I'm about to tackle my ball joint tomorrow and I am a little timid seeing as I've never attempted these before.
Anyway, I was wondering, did you have to support the lower control arm with a jack because of the tension from the Torsion bar? I don't want to break the ball joint loose from the knuckle and have it take off my leg or something horrible. Thanks again for everyone and the great support and info!

 

[croom9]

No ndfangoirish you'll be fine they only go down so far and they stop........................... and I don't think there is any tension on them at that point I think its only under pressure when the weight of the vehicle is on them... I may be wrong but that's irrelevant anyway lol

 

[gavin]

No ndfangoirish you'll be fine they only go down so far and they stop........................... and I don't think there is any tension on them at that point I think its only under pressure when the weight of the vehicle is on them... I may be wrong but that's irrelevant anyway lol

not to mention the shock is also a limiting factor, and the sway-bar if it's still attached.

 

[SpringRubber]

Just replaced the left UCA and LBJ on my 98 xlt. Whoa -- sweated for 1 and a half days. I thank the forum for all the great info, while cursing you for all the confidence you gave me. :

I'm the original owner, the front end hadn't been touched and boy was it rusted. Salt in the winters and ocean air in the summers. Yes, for me it was a day and a half and only got one side done.

Some folks might want to know that I was able to to replace the LBJ without having to separate the hub/knuckle from the axle. Had to stress, by this I mean a sharp outward pull, the whole assembly two times; once to get the lower section of the knuckle clear of the old LBJ stem and again to get it over the newly installed LBJ. It's possible to replace the LBJ without removing either the rotor or the steering knuckle. PITA but is was possible.

AutoZone press was used. Also PITA. Ended up beating out the old LBJ with a mini-sledge. When I do the passenger side tomorrow I am going to support the outside edge of the LCA because it makes no sense to me to hammer on something that is flexing; I bet then I'll need fewer controlled blows.

MountaineerGreen -- I sure do appreciate the pics. I tried the jack to press in the new joint but the vehicle kept lifting, despite my tapping around with a ballpeen.

To install the new LBJ I used a combination of pressing with the rented tool plus a steel plate I added to the top of the largest receiving ring, and hammering. Not much fun at all.

Right side will be tackled tomorrow. For that I have picked up a 2" black pipe cap from Home Depot and will be trying that as the receiver for the press.

My goal for the right side is to complete in a few hours and get the alignment done before I go to bed tomorrow night.

 

[bobflood]

I changed mine a few weeks ago. Took about 6 hours to do both sides, and that's in a Southern truck with no rust, air tools and a lift! One tip that really helped for putting in new ball joints - put them in freezer for at least a day beforehand. It shinks them just enough so they slide right in.

 

[SpringRubber]

Tip for using the loaner ball joint press

Hope there's not a next time for ball joints, but if there is maybe I'll try the freezer tip.

Here's my update...success! By Noon the new LBJ was all snugged in. I posted a pic of the loaner press (same model #27023 that MountainGreen used) with a 2" iron pipe cap on top of the control arm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tfgoetz/4951535313/

As others have pointed out, the reason this loaner tool doesn't work by itself is because the two parts (seen on the floor) are too tall to fit on top of the control arm.

Tied up in the right of the pic is my frozen rotor with dust shield, hub and ABS line all intact. Unlike the right side at least I was able to get this off the axle.

Thanks All!

Tom