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

[djembeing]

coil spring or torsion bar

I was wondering what the difference is between upper control arms for 2wd rangers that have torsion bar suspension, and ones that have coil spring.
I'm just having a bit of trouble finding the right one. (i have coil springs)
I need to change uppers and lowers on the passenger side.
My truck has what I believe to be a factory one piece UCA on the pass. side. Can I use a one-piece, OR a two-piece replacement? If i go with the two-piece, it looks like it attaches to the frame differently (from the picture, it doesn't have the bolt-holes in the same orientation as the one-piece. How does this work?

 

[tommymor]

Those fuel lines are a pain. I battled those on my old 4.0 and I was hoping they would be routed differently on the 5.0....not the case. I unclipped them and carefully pryed them out of the way with a screwdriver while I rotated the bolt in just the right way.

I just did my UCAs with ball joints on both sides on a '98 Mounty 2WD. This fuel line was an unexpected glitch and I ended up needing another person to push the line down about a 1/16" with a crow bar from above while I rotated, jiggled, swore, cajoled, used the design engineer's name in vain and finally pryed the bolt out.....repeated that process when putting it back in. That side took about an hour an a half in all for this ameteur, the passenger side with the two piece design took 15 minutes. I used Prosteer parts in stock at Pep Boys. Car has 190k on it and this was the first replacement....will be doing the lowers next week.

Thanks to Moutaineer Green for a great thread...saved me some needed cash.

 

[Lloyd10977]

I just did my UCAs with ball joints on both sides on a '98 Mounty 2WD. This fuel line was an unexpected glitch and I ended up needing another person to push the line down about a 1/16" with a crow bar from above while I rotated, jiggled, swore, cajoled, used the design engineer's name in vain and finally pryed the bolt out.....repeated that process when putting it back in. That side took about an hour an a half in all for this ameteur, the passenger side with the two piece design took 15 minutes. I used Prosteer parts in stock at Pep Boys. Car has 190k on it and this was the first replacement....will be doing the lowers next week.

Thanks to Moutaineer Green for a great thread...saved me some needed cash.

I found that when I did mine (4.0 4X4) I undid as many clips from the fuel line as I can reach and the pushed a wooden wedge between the line and the frame, giving me room to work with while allowing me to concentrate both hands on manipulating the bolt.

 

[Big-E]

Wow thanks for this write up including the one for the ball joints. Did did this to my Explorer today and wow it rides so much better. Of course i put in new shocks and when I had new tires put on as well tonight. The old ball joints were horrible and would squeak when turning the wheel. The one PITA was that camber bold for the upper control arm on the drivers side. I had to undo all sorts of fuel/brake line clips to get it out. I was cursing that Engineers name as i was removing it this afternoon.

Thanks again,


Eric

 

[vrtentis]

hAVING TROUBLE GETTING MY CAM BOLTS OUT!! THEY BUT UP AGAINST OTHER PARTS AND I CANT SEEM TO FIND A WAY TO GET THEM OUT TO CHANGE MY CONTROL ARM ALSO MY TIE ROD END SEEMS TO BE STUCK ON THE TIE ROD ITS SELF AND WONDERING IF THERE IS A SECRET TO GETTING THE TIE ROD END OFF OF THERE?

 

[BWheetley]

hAVING TROUBLE GETTING MY CAM BOLTS OUT!! THEY BUT UP AGAINST OTHER PARTS AND I CANT SEEM TO FIND A WAY TO GET THEM OUT TO CHANGE MY CONTROL ARM ALSO MY TIE ROD END SEEMS TO BE STUCK ON THE TIE ROD ITS SELF AND WONDERING IF THERE IS A SECRET TO GETTING THE TIE ROD END OFF OF THERE?

I'm assuming you're talking about the driver's side cam They are tough to get out. You may have to loosen the fuel line mounts so that the fuel lines will flex far enough to allow the cam bolts to slide out. Search this thread as others have had this same issue. I think I remember seeing a picture of the fuel lines that are in the way.

On the tie rod, make sure you have loosened the lock nut and the tie rod end should fairly easily unscrew.

 

[vrtentis]

Thanks!! thats what i was just kinda worried about damaging the lines but ill lossen them and puch them out of the way and with the tie rod i cant get either the locking bolt or tie rod to budge, but im going to keep going at it and eventually its gotta come lose! I appreciate your advice!

 

[vrtentis]

control arm job done

Finished both driverside and passanger side control arms and tie rod end job. The passanger side was much easier to do, it had the old two peice control arm design but i replaced it with the one peice with no problem. The driverside was a pain cause i had to find a way to get the cam bolts out with the brake lines and ac lines in the way but i just pushed them out of the way enough to get the bolts out. Not the easiest job but it wasnt to hard. doing it yourself will save you between 500-700 in labor and "shop supplies" oh dont forget the misc $5 charge they throw in there too depending on where you live.

 

[Bintopo]

Upper Control Arm Frustration

Hi,

Doing the UCA on my 99 Ranger and found I couldn't get the ball joint into the steering knuckle. Tried all kinds of ways but nothing. I borrowed my buddy's calipers and found that the old ones were .685" while the new were .762". That's .077" larger!!! There parts that I got from NAPA 260-5122 & 260-5123.

Should they be the same size and slip in without having to force them?

Thanks
Brian

 

[MNBen]

My old and new were the same size as I checked them before the install. You may have the wrong part in the right box. Go back to napa.

 

[Bintopo]

Turns out I was given the ones for Torsion Bar suspension and not the Coil Spring ones.

 

[mikepier]

I did the passengers side UCA this past weekend. I only replaced the half assembly (Moog K8710T) , not the full piece. My bushings are still good so I figured it was not necessary and why make life harder.
Now I will tackle the drivers side this weekend. I ordered the Moog K8708T. I have been hearing a lot about these replacement camber bolt kits . Do I need these, or can I use the stock ones? In the 13 years I had this truck since it was brand new, I never gotten an alignment, nor did I have any issues with uneven tire wear. Will the new control arm throw the alignment out a lot, or is it an identical piece to the stock UCA?

 

[Yadkin]

Those parts in the OP, picture 11, look a lot different that these:

 

[Sal33n]

Pinch bolt question

98 Mountaineer 5.0 AWD. Passenger side. I am trying to remove the pinch bolt. Got the nut off but the Bolt won't budge. Is it threaded though the knuckle or do you just knock it out with a hammer?

 

[swashbuckler]

Smack it around, show it who's boss. You got a new bolt with your new arm, right? So go to town on it.

 

[jremington59]

I just did my drivers side and the only hard part is the hardlines on the back side of the arm. Here's what I came up with that makes it easy to get the bolt out. If you unhook the connector that holds the two gas lines from the fame you can put a piece of string through the hole in the frame below the lines, wrap it arond the lines and bring it back through the hole and tie it. Then just put a bar through the rope and against the frame and you can pull the lines down and over at the same time with the bar.

 

[patrickw1982]

2 piece to 1 piece upper ball joint right side.

what is the difference really between the 2 piece and 1 piece design for the right side?


it shouldn't be a problem to make the conversion should it?

I am having the same issue. I have the two part ball joint but I cannot find the replacement for the upper piece. I can get the ball joint piece just fine but cant seem to find the upper piece it bolts to. The piece that bolts to the frame. does anyone know if the one piece will be okay to replace it with?

 

[patrickw1982]

You are misunderstanding the problem...I can't even get the balljoint down far enough to tap it in the knuckle.



Thanks I'll that a shot.

I had the same problem. I used a jack under the hub assembly to lift the hub assembly up to the pin, then pulled down and gave it a few taps with a small sledge to get in all the way.

Hope this helps.

 

[cruz38]

Replace..

I am having the same issue. I have the two part ball joint but I cannot find the replacement for the upper piece. I can get the ball joint piece just fine but cant seem to find the upper piece it bolts to. The piece that bolts to the frame. does anyone know if the one piece will be okay to replace it with?

You dont want to replace it with a two piece. Use the two piece it works fine and will last longer..

Cruz38

 

[patrickw1982]

You dont want to replace it with a two piece. Use the two piece it works fine and will last longer..

Cruz38

I dont think I understand what your saying. So I will clarify the issue. I have a 2001 Edge 2WD with Torsion bars. The front driver side upper ball joint is an adjustable two piece unit. You have one unit that bolts to the frame. Then you have the ball joint pressed into arms that bolts to piece one. The Issue I have is this. I can easily find the replacement piece for the ball joint pressed into the arms. The part I need to replace is the other piece that bolts to the frame. The piece that has the adjustment bolt in it. I took it in to a guy today and he told me that The one piece ball and arm assembly will be fine. The two piece is nice because its easier to align but the whole unit is not avaliable.