Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures)

[red mountaineer]

thank you

only 2 pages into your forum and have learned so much from u, questioneers and other helpers

 

[Zagamoochie]

Want to thank mountaineergreen for this post! It was a huge help in knowing what I was in for to replace the lower ball joints on my 02 Sport Trac. Did it last weekend, total job took six hours that included replacing all four shocks with new Rancho RS5000's and breaking for lunch, Great site, again thanks for such an informative step by step!

 

[htsmeister]

thanks very much to MountaineerGreen for the great pics and notes. Today, I'm replacing the LCA bushings, LBJ, UCA, outer tie rod ends.... though the inner feel pretty weak now and I am considering changing those out later. I had taken my '96 to Les Schwab for alignment since it was pulling to the right. After 3 attempts by their "senior" person they could not get it right, jut minimize the problem for the most part. I finally got new tires and did not mess around with Schwab this time...went straight o an Alignment Specialty shop. In 10 min, they said they cannot align because the LBJ and the TR ends were shot. With the vehicle in the air and the LCA supported, he stuck a long crow bar in between the knuckle and the LCA and pushed down on bar to lift the spindle. Basically the whole FE is falling out, which is where I am today!

 

[ThePhoenix]

LBJ doesnt affect alignment. but I guess if it is REALLY gone, it would not be able to be aligned. Interesting.

you will be amazed at difference when you are done (if done right). you will realize just how sloppy it has become.

 

[htsmeister]

well, all done now. took about 12 hrs for all the work, but I was taking my time. What a huge difference! this thing drives like a brand new rig! Alignment came out fantastic as well.

 

[daisyrocky]

I just did mine yesterday after reading this thread. I installed all Moog parts and the truck don't squawk anymore. I've rented the Autozone tool and it was kind of useless, it's really good for installing lower balljoints with the medium sleeve and the floor jack trick. A 3 pounds mini sledge hammer did it in three whacks and used the floor jack install trick. Took 6 hours all all four balljoints and upper control arms and ready for alignment on Monday.

 

[96eb96]

Great Explorer Lower Ball Joint Article!

http://www.import-car.com/Article/6...ll_joint_removal_and_installation_issues.aspx

If you can get that adapter (I think Advance rents a full set of adapters) it could make the job easier.

 

[neil12w]

okay, I have a 98 Explorer sport 2wd. It has shock w/ coil spring, do i need to do anything with the coil when removing everything to get to the lower ball joints? Do I just need to jack the arm up to loosen tension on spring? I did this to install shocks a month ago no problem. Just a little nervous about taking all this apart, but need to save money, but also keep wife and kid safe!

 

[koba]

Hello to all,
i have an 1997 explorer 2wd us model 4.0L shoc
i had to change the lower ball joint on passenger side
when i went to local parts store and bought the parts i been told that there is only one part # for lower ball joint for explorer this year and they gave me mevotech ball joint part # 8695T

i pooled the old ball joint out using a ball joint press and pot the new one in
the ball joint 'fit's good in the control arm the safty ring is perfectly instuled
although the ball joint bolt tuches my rim and it make noise when i turn all the way right

i wonder if it is the wrong ball joint for 2wd explorer and if it is what is the right part # ?

 

[jrowe6]

would worn out ball joints be the reason for that clanking when driving over a rough surface?

 

[gavin]

it's a possibilty, yes

 

[alohamonte]

Just a heads up --- don't buy the generic ebay balljoints/front end reuild kits.

I installed the compete front end rebuild kit. Two months into it, the sway bar endlink failed. 4 months later (6 months total) the upper balljoints started making noise. And now, a year later, I'm going to replace the upper and lower bjs again (less than 10,000 miles on them). Go Moog or another premium brand to save yourself a headache.

 

[gavin]

Just a heads up --- don't buy the generic ebay balljoints/front end reuild kits.

I installed the compete front end rebuild kit. Two months into it, the sway bar endlink failed. 4 months later (6 months total) the upper balljoints started making noise. And now, a year later, I'm going to replace the upper and lower bjs again (less than 10,000 miles on them). Go Moog or another premium brand to save yourself a headache.

yup, I've always recommended Moog due to their superior quality.

 

[Turdle]

Just a heads up --- don't buy the generic ebay balljoints/front end reuild kits.

I installed the compete front end rebuild kit. Two months into it, the sway bar endlink failed. 4 months later (6 months total) the upper balljoints started making noise. And now, a year later, I'm going to replace the upper and lower bjs again (less than 10,000 miles on them). Go Moog or another premium brand to save yourself a headache.

Which "generic" kit did you use? From which ebayer? There are several "kits" listed from several ebayers.

The one I used from the ebayer I listed worked fine. in fact, the sway bar endlinks were moog brand

 

[jrowe6]

i bought some "master ride chassis" front lowers, anyone ever used them? got them at napa pretty cheap. have not installed them yet but plan to when it warms back up. is it really worth putting an extra $100 into a set of lowers to get the moogs?

 

[bullnerd]

I'll add my .02$.
I was actually replacing the wheel bearing when i discovered the bj had about 3/8" of travel in it.Went to AA,all they had was a cheapo or TRW ,so i opted of course for the trw,but i didnt catch the parts guy say oem replacement.I get to the point of installing the bjs and relise no zerk fittings!WTF,OEM rplacement!So now its too late on Sunday to go back and replace them.

I would have sworn the bad bearing was on the drivers side ,wrong it was the pass. side.

I used the BJ press from AA also ,it worked perfect to remove and INSTALL the joint with very little fuss.No jack required.You have to use the right collars.

 

[CBLAMBERT]

Auto Zone's Duralast joints are fine..lifetime warranty too. The press the lend for free works well- save time & beat old ones out w/ a BFH. Cheap ones are steel on steel- the "discount" crap is Chinese steel on soft metal. They wear out fast! Loose sloppy steering & clunking over bumps will be confirmed with a long pry bar. Buy Moog or Duralast joints & youll be happy for awhile as they have a OEM type teflon bushing. The OEM ones often dont have zerks either- I wouldnt worry about it. Good luck!

 

[bo11]

Excellent. I have new Lower Ball Joints and tie Rod ends in my garage. I tried to get the lower ball joints out but couldn't do it. I will go and rent the Ball joint press.

What Kills me is the Ford Dealer said I had to replace the whole complete lower control arm which with Labor would have been $1200.00 Glad I didn't fall for that one.

 

[CBLAMBERT]

yea right on! its really not that tough just be sure to secure your brakes, & be careful with the ABS sensors, then pull the knuckle & pound the lowers out with a hammer while supported by floor jack, use press to seat new joint (kinda crooked because the lower arm is built with an angle at the tip...smack with BFH to be sure seated squarely, replace the circlip & button it up. the uppers are usually tight but check anyway, seal up any torn boots with RTV & road test...alignment is usually good unless some hambone tried to align it last time with worn joints then you should be good to go.

 

[SkipperDan53]

Thanks so much for the detailed pics as they really helped. I replaced the upper and lower on my 01 Ford Explorer Sports Trac and in doing so I found that the vacboots or spindle seats were bad. I had a time in finding them, but finally did at Napa. Now I have a whinning sound coming from the driving side wheel. I jacked it up and found that the vacboot was making the sound I spray some lube on it and it stopped for a while, but returned. Is there a correct way in installing them as I have found that no one address's this. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Dan