Steering knuckle replacement?

[Jzawadzki04]

Hey everyone. yesterday my front wheel bearing blew out and welded itself to the spindle. I picked up a junkyard steering knuckle with the spindle but I have no clue how to put it on. Can someone please briefly run me through the process or give me a link to a good writeup? Are there any special tools I'll need? Do I need to replace the ball joints or can I reuse the ones I have? It's a 98 XLT 5.0 2WD. Money is tight right now so I'd like to reuse anything I can. Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

 

[Turdle]

I think if you follow the "upper ball joint how to" , the "lower ball joint how to" and " hub bearing " how to threads you will have success. Of course you do not want to "remove" the upper or lower ball joints, but these will show how to release them from the knuckle.


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194453
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1499806

You might refer to the list of how to threads for others.

To release the inner tie rod and lower ball joint from knuckle, remove the castle nut, turn it upside down and thread it back onto the bolt, to protect the thread ends. Smack the nut upward with a hammer and the shaft bolt should pop loose. Using a pickle fork might damage the joint.