How To: Replacing Upper Ball Joints on a 3rd Gen 4x4 [Pictures]

Thank you for the valuable information with regards to ball joint replacement. I've been a "shade tree" mechanic for as long as I can remember. I am a new member and really appreciate all the different techniques and valuable information on this forum. Thanks guys!

al652000 said:

I just replaced the upper control arm. Ball joint and bushings were both bad. Only took about 30min to change. I used Mevotech replacement from Rockauto, fit like a glove.

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I used Mevotech ball joints as well Got them from rockauto.com

Tekreck said:

I changed by lower ball joints this weekend while I was doing coil-over shocks and drive axles. Changed then with lower control arms in.

Note - Advance Auto has 2 flavors of ball joint kits. Have to have the big kit to get the right receiver cups for the job. Also, don't forget to orient ball joint per instructions so grease comes out the rear.

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^ This. Got a ball joint press from Autozone and changed the ball joints without having to remove the control arms. Super easy to do and although it's only been two weeks, they are holding up great. I have pictures in-case anyone wants to see the smaller press.

I found a way to do the job while leaving control arms in. Loosen ball joint nut, bang bottom of Ball Joint bolt to break it free from Knuckle. Loosen nut more just until its ready to come off but leave it connected. With a Saws All, cut bolt at the base of the tapered area where it fits in to Knuckle until it separates. Press out Ball Joint with Press. Lube inside of control arm where Ball joint presses in. Then press in ball joint using Vise Grips on each side as you look at the Ball Joint making sure you alternate each side until the Ball joint mounts flush. Apply Snap Ring to Ball Joint on the underside of control arm and just reassemble. Done. It took me 45 minutes to do each one.

Any of you guys bought any of these? Are these Knock-offs with the same part number as moog? Or are these the real deal moog at a fantastic price?

Im due for the ball joint replacement so i want aome of you guys expert opinion.

Thanks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARTS-MASTE...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ebfb6633b&vxp=mtr

Won't say "knock offs" but definitely NOT a Moog part.
See link, at least two others using the same K80008 P/N.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1414516,parttype,10070

Thanks for the input man, ill just go ahead and fork up the $60ea and get two authentic moog ball joints and call it a day.

$60 each is VERY steep. GL

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...9vGDAg&usg=AFQjCNGnjfvcaXkBxBHuFCRnM_8bmiZqUw

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...s_XLCg&usg=AFQjCNF4k1c-oVTc5IWSQ9ve8NBvmDGSgg

DLinkOZ said:

I actually opted to do the entire arms. The joints alone were $42 each, the entire arm with joints were only $68 each out the door at my local O'Reilly's. So new arm, new ball joints, new bushings, and it cut the time down to 30 minutes per side since you remove all the press out/press in steps (and your write-up already has the arms coming out anyway).

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Ordered L & R upper arms with ball joints from Ebay. Did the right side this afternoon. The ball joint bolt popped right out with a few hits from my mini sledge. The 2 upper arm bolts were really rusted. I hit them with liquid wrench and the front nut loosened right up. The rear was soo tight. those 2 nuts were really on there, each fought me down to the very last thread. Took about 2 hrs to complete, had to go to Sears to get 21mm wrench, the Chinese made arms had metric hardware. Total cost $125 + $20 (new socket & wrench from Sears) Hope the left side goes as smooth or better. Couldn't have done this without the excellent tips and photos in this thread. Thanks!

danmart1 said:

Thank you for the valuable information with regards to ball joint replacement. I've been a "shade tree" mechanic for as long as I can remember. I am a new member and really appreciate all the different techniques and valuable information on this forum. Thanks guys!

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Thank you

explorenavy said:

this write up is AWSOME! I'm very thankful i found it. I'm in Northeast Illinois, and the cheapest quote i can get is about 850 to do both front upper balljoints. Doing it myself is definitley in my sights.

im curious, why do they tell you that the entire control arm should be replaced rather than just the balljoint?

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I know this is an old post, but I didn't see an answer to your question. I used to work at a Federal-Mogul plant that supplied OEM (head/EM/IM) gaskets to manufacturer's assembly plants or even to other suppliers who then put them on their sub-assembly before shipping them to Ford's assembly plant. The answer to your question is I believe it's because Ford purchases the whole control arm from an OEM supplier at their assembly plant; therefore, they purchase and use the same parts at the dealer. It's just simpler and cheaper for them to keep up with one assembly than piece them together at the dealership. The reason Haynes manual says the balljoint alone is not serviceable is basically because the manufacturer says so.

Replace arm versus ball joint

explorenavy said:

this write up is AWSOME! I'm very thankful i found it. I'm in Northeast Illinois, and the cheapest quote i can get is about 850 to do both front upper balljoints. Doing it myself is definitley in my sights.

im curious, why do they tell you that the entire control arm should be replaced rather than just the balljoint?

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- you you want to minimize $$ and have a lot of time, replace just the ball joint and do it without removing control arm. Difficult without the right ball joint cups, but possible.

- if you think your control arm bushings, in addition ot the ball joint, could benefit from replacement (squeaking??), then replace the whole control arm.

- if you are going to pay for front end alignment anyway because you took the control arm off to replace just the ball joint, then maybe consider the whole control arm, since with either way you need a new alignment.

Here's what I used and I didn't have to take the control arm off.


Pressing the old one out:


New vs Old:


Pressing the new in:


Done:

Thanks for all of the great information in this post. Just wanted to add that an old mechanic friend would always place anything he was going to "press in" in the feezer the night before he would do his work. Yes, it might only be a thousandth of an inch, but it sure makes the pressing a i easier. Give it a try, it works.

gtbutler said:

Thanks for all of the great information in this post. Just wanted to add that an old mechanic friend would always place anything he was going to "press in" in the feezer the night before he would do his work. Yes, it might only be a thousandth of an inch, but it sure makes the pressing a i easier. Give it a try, it works.

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Even moreso if you can put the receiving part in the oven.

A few months ago I struggled with pressing a bushing into a lower control arm for over an hour (on my taurus). Eventually I decided to throw the LCA in the oven at 200 for 20 min or so and the bushing in the freezer.
Once I had the press lined up it pressed almost effortlessly into place - a minute, tops.

Pictures

Hey All - anyway to get the original pictures with this "How To:" write-up? Thanks for your help!

Chinacat70 said:

Hey All - anyway to get the original pictures with this "How To:" write-up? Thanks for your help!

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Are you saying you can't view the pictures on the first page? They work great for me.

Hi Everyone,

Long time no see. Glad that my sticky is still here and helping others. To the last replier(s), I may still have the original pics that I uploaded. I can however see them just fine on my computer as well.

I don't have this Explorer anymore, sold it to pay for a wedding. Now going through a divorce, wanting my Explorer back and am right now in the market for a new one so I can contribute again to the community.

Thanks

Definitely one of the best tutorials on this forum that has helped MANY people

Want to come here and do another one for my ST? Best wishes and thanks again!

swshawaii said:

Definitely one of the best tutorials on this forum that has helped MANY people

Want to come here and do another one for my ST? Best wishes and thanks again!

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Thanks!

I'm planning on doing both the upper and lower ball joints this weekend. Yesterday the pictures were there but today they aren't? Any Idea's? I new I should have copied them into a word doc!

I've read that some of you have been able to remove the upper without removing the control arm. I did reserve the ball joint press from Autozone so will I be able to remove the ball joints without removing the control arm with the press?