Hi Guys
I've done the lower ball joints and upper control arms on my 2004 Sport Trac. My wife's 2005 Explorer is looking similar. I've been reading thru various posts about ball joints, squeaky sway bar mounts, etc. I've read ThePotRoast's upper ball joint thread (nice work) and some of the other ball joint threads and I was wondering a few things.
I've noticed the Haynes manual says they're unserviceable, and now, I see they are serviceable which is nice. It's made me wonder what other things they are incorrect about. Anyway, I was wondering, while I'm replacing the upper ball joints (driver's side boot is torn), should I replace the lower ball joints while things are apart? Is it worth replacing the shocks while things are apart? Haynes mentions new nuts are to be used for the upper control arms, stabilizer bar link, shock mount points and new bolts for the stabilizer bar brackets. Is that legit since their torque to yield or just abused suspension related bolts? or is it more of a Ford CYA? If I should swap out the shock, is that relatively easy when using a "free" spring tool? or am I better off buying a shock/spring assembly?
Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
I've done the lower ball joints and upper control arms on my 2004 Sport Trac. My wife's 2005 Explorer is looking similar. I've been reading thru various posts about ball joints, squeaky sway bar mounts, etc. I've read ThePotRoast's upper ball joint thread (nice work) and some of the other ball joint threads and I was wondering a few things.
I've noticed the Haynes manual says they're unserviceable, and now, I see they are serviceable which is nice. It's made me wonder what other things they are incorrect about. Anyway, I was wondering, while I'm replacing the upper ball joints (driver's side boot is torn), should I replace the lower ball joints while things are apart? Is it worth replacing the shocks while things are apart? Haynes mentions new nuts are to be used for the upper control arms, stabilizer bar link, shock mount points and new bolts for the stabilizer bar brackets. Is that legit since their torque to yield or just abused suspension related bolts? or is it more of a Ford CYA? If I should swap out the shock, is that relatively easy when using a "free" spring tool? or am I better off buying a shock/spring assembly?
Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
