Ball joint replacement

[Remi]

I have a terrible squeak from the front end of my truck and was told that the ball joints are bad. It squeaks whenever going over a bump in the road or if I push down on the fender. Looks like Autozone has the parts for $25-$30 a piece (upper and lower) but I hav never done this before and dont want to get caught half way through not knowing what I'm doing. Two questions:
1. Has anyone done this and is it straight forward or not?
2. Has anyone had this done and how much expense could I be looking at?

 

[KWT2000]

i do everything my self and it is strait foward, but to make life easy you need a ball joint/ u joint tool, there are other ways but this will make it east for the lowers.. the uppers are easier to do as they unbolt not press in

 

[drdoom]

Original upper control arms are not serviceable, so you have to replace the arm itself...pass side is cake, driver's side not so much. About $150.00USD each if you just run out to the parts house and get some, I'm sure shopping around you could do better on the pricing. Not sure about the lowers.

 

[swshawaii]

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

Upper
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194453

 

[Remi]

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

Upper
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194453

Thank you sir

 

[waskly]

just make sure you are not buying oversized ball joints.

they sell oversized, when the hole is too big for factory. they will break or not go in right if the size is for a regular ball join.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

go look on rockauto. i cant say how much you save in the us, but in canada, just the uppers alone both cost me the same amount, shipped to my door as one would cost here if i bought them from the parts store, and those were moog's. also, one nice thing about the moogs uppers are they are serviceable. meaning if on goes bad, you can pull it out from the control arm, and just replace the ball joint itself. for the bottoms, yes, get a ball joint press to put them in, to take them out, i nail it with a 3 lb sledge hammer. by the 3rd or 4th swing, its out.

 

[bobflood]

Check out the sticky's - there are several excellent threds on this job.

+1 re drdoom's statement re the uppers - you will need to replace the entire control arm.

One more tip: Put the new lower ball joints in the freezer overnight, remove them just before you are ready to install them. The cold will shrink them a tiny bit, but it's a major help in installation.