1st Gen Moog Balljoint Pn's

[CarFreak146]

Balljoint Questions

does anybody have these part number for the upper and lower ball joints on a 1st gen 4wd?? I think they may be the wrong numbers. Thanks for any help you can give me.

--Ryan

 

[tcndeb]

MOOG
Upper Ball Joint
FRONT SUSPENSION ENHANCED DESIGN w/DANA 28 AXLE - USES THREADED STUD K8412T 91-94

Upper Ball Joint
FRONT SUSPENSION w/DANA 35 AXLE - USES PINCH BOLT K8546 91-92

Lower Ball Joint
FRONT SUSPENSION w/DANA 28 AXLE - USES THREADED STUD K8411 91-94

Lower Ball Joint
FRONT SUSPENSION w/DANA 35 AXLE - USES PINCH BOLT K8563 91-92

 

[CarFreak146]

Thanks tcndeb, but what's the part number for the upper and lower for the 93-94 with the Dana 35?

==Ryan

 

[DeRocha]

The Dana 35 # are the same...
Lower K8563 $26/ea @ RockAuto
Upper K8546 $27/ea

 

[CarFreak146]

thanks man, these are the greasable ones correct?

 

[DeRocha]

These are greasable You install the zerk fittings after you press in the ball joints.

 

[CarFreak146]

alright, thanks DeRocha. HAVe you done this before? I"m gonna do it myself, and it just seems like a lot of work.... I am gonna need the tool for the ball joints, but will I need a pitman arm puller to remove the te rod from the knuckle? Thanks

--Ryan

 

[CarFreak146]

for future reference, the 91-93 Balljoint part number and the 94 part numbers are different.

1994 Ford Explorer
Moog Upper:
4wd, Dana 35: K8676 (2 Required)

Moog Lower:
4wd Dana 35: K8673 (2 Required)

--Ryan

 

[DeRocha]

I have removed and restored the entire front end. Of course it only started out that I was going to replace my ball joints, but 1 thing lead to another. It was easier to replace everthing (ball joints, u-joints, spindle bearings, wheel bearings, Inner and outer axle seals, grease seal on rotor, outer tie rods) while I had the knuckles off. You shouldn't need a puller for the outer tie rod. I removed the castle nut and tapped it out with a few easy hits from a hammer (I replaced it when it wouldn't seat during re-install (the castle nut kept spinning the tappered shaft)). A pickle fork helps separate/free up the lower ball joint. The biggest pita was removed the spindles.

 

[CarFreak146]

ok cool, i would replace everything you did, if I had time, but I"ve got that big wheelin' event this weekend and with work and school, I"ve only got two days and about 6 hours to do it, plus a long list of other things b4 friday evening. thanks for all your info. oh, did you have to get an alignment after you replaced everything?

--Ryan

 

[DeRocha]

I Put off my alignment for 2 months because 1) my tires were old 2) I re-installed the camber bushings into their original positions (a digital camera helps). 3) I installed the new tie rods the same #of threads showing as the old ones. So I basically "got in the ballpart".

 

[CarFreak146]

alright thanks... i think i will start tackling this tonight.

--Ryan

Thanks again for all your information derocha

 

[CarFreak146]

ok, I've got a problem, I can't get the plate that hold the axle shaft in off, I've taken off the 5 nuts, but my haynes says to tap it with a hammer and pull it off.... how'd you get if off, b.c its not coming off for me with just a tap?? PLEASE HELP!!!

--Ryan

 

[CarFreak146]

ok, upon closer insepction, it looks like that spindle "thing" can't come off, b/c the ABS sensor is around it, so either there's a way to get the ABS sensor off of it, or a way to take the spindle "thing" off around the sensor???? or since I have abs, do I just leave that on, remove the knuckle and take the shaft out that way. PLEASE, I need your help, I need my truck back.

--Ryan

 

[huskyfan23]

There are 2 bolts on the back holding the ABS holder on. I don't remember the sizes, but 1 requires a hard-to-find 12-point socket, size 5.5 or something. I removed 1 bolt, pulled my sensor out, then chiseled that bolt out. Once you get the ABS stuff off, take a rubber mallet and beat around the spindle until it loosens up.

 

[CarFreak146]

where's the other bolt at on the sensor, I found one, on the back of the knuckle at the bottom of the sensor, but couldn't find the other one.

--Ryan

 

[huskyfan23]

One tucks up in a curved portion. You've gotta get down there with a light and you should see it. This is probably the one that requires the 12-point 6mm socket.

 

[CarFreak146]

ok. sorry for all the questions, but how exactly and what exactly pulls out?? the eintre piece, or just the circular "shiny" peice if front? (sorry, I've never torn into the front end more than to just change pads and repack bearings.

--ryan

 

[Brock94]

1) In theory the ABS thing with the wire coming out should pull out from the inside of the knuckle-- this includes the shiny circular part that you see sticking out the out through the outside of the knuckle. In reality, I was not able to remove this part because the rusty knuckle was holding it in place, so I just left it there.

2) There is a separate part that attaches to the outside of the knuckle-- as far as I can tell, it serves to protect the part of the ABS sensor that sticks through the knuckle from mud and debris-- this part slightly overlaps the spindle and must be removed in order to remove the spindle. It is attached by a wierd twelve-point 6mm bolt from the inside of the knuckle. After stripping this bolt, I had to go in there with a dremel tool and grind the head off of it using a small grinding stone-- also involved grinding away part of the rubber mount for the ABS sensor to get in there in my case. If you have a 1/4 inch drive 12 point, 6mm socket, you should be able to get in there to loosen this bolt, but I was not able to find such a socket-- Sears only had a 3/8 inch drive, 12 point, 6mm which would not fit. I ended up breaking one of the protector things (they are fairly brittle) and had to buy a new set of them from Ford for about $40. The new parts came with new 12 point bolts, but I replaced those with internal hex-head bolts with the same threads.

3) Once getting the outer protective things off, I had a hard time with the spindles which were rusted on there really well. I used lots of penetrating oil-- if I had waited over night, that may have been enough, but I had a blunt air chisle handy and used that (carefully) around the spindle where it meets the knuckle to separate the two. Although I tried to be careful, I did marr the mating surface on the parts in a couple places, but made sure to grind those areas down flat before reassembly.

I'm not sure all this would represent "best practices", but it worked in my case, and the truck seems to be fine so far.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[DeRocha]

Brock94 has supplied very good info

Here is a picture of the Steering knuckle removed. You can see the ABS sensor protector (red) in the middle. You can also see the 2 bolt locations on the knuckle which hold it in place. The Aluminum ABS sensors are very sensitive and cost $$$ so do NOT even think of removing them.

Like Brock94 my spindles wouldn't move. I beat the crap out of them with a Rubber dead blow hammer for 1/2 hour with ZERO result. After removing them I figured out why. The spindles have an inner lip (seen in the final picture below) which presses into the knuckle. This lip will rust into place and require your to chissel it out. I spend a solid day trying to remove the spindles by various methods before deciding to chissel them out.. I used several screwdrivers as wedges and walked them around the spindle. You will not be able to drive one directly in; you will need to walk it around like a paint can lid doing a little at a time.