'93 Explorer ball joint replacement help needed

[rwatson]

First time posting here. Lots of wonderful information here. Great site!

Anyway, after 130k mostly trouble-free miles I have developed the dreaded 60mph vibration in the frontend.

I'm going to replace the balljoints and radius arm bushings and go from there. I started pulling it apart this afternoon and ran into a roadblock. I have the upper and lower balljoints loose and need to know whether or not I have to remove the axles before I can get the spindle out. The repair manual I have (Haynes) is terrible and the section on the axles doesn't have much in it.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. Also, anyone know what size the smaller of the two bolts that hold the ABS sensor bracket onto the spindle? The only thing I could find in the archive was 12 pt 7mm.

 

[88vert]

The spindle should come out atfer you remove the five bolts holding it in,you might want to try hitting it with a rubber hammer a few times to break it loose I dont know about the sensor becase mine does not have it

 

[rwatson]

Thanks, I pulled both spindles off and removed the axles. The driver's side axle just slipped out of the differential. I wasn't expecting it to come out that easily and ended up with fluid running down in two spots.

Make sure you have several drain pans ready, one under where the spindle is and one under the differential.

The passenger side axle required me to remove the clamp on the outer side of the boot. Once the boot was loose, the axle just slid out. The lower ball joint on the pass side was shot. The grease was gone. Tomorrow I'm having all four pressed in at the machine shop and I'll replace the radius arm bushings.

 

[88vert]

keep us posted

 

[X-1]

balljoints

After 173,000 miles I'm sure I could use some balljoints too, keep us posted, I'd like to know how it turns out, and cost involved.
David

 

[rwatson]

Well, I got the ball joints pressed in at the machine shop and replaced the radius arm bushings while I was waiting for the ball joints to be pressed.

The ball joints cost about $38 each (upper and lower) and the machine shop charged $30 to press them in. The radius arm bushings cost $42 for the pair.

I took a test drive after I got it all back together and still don't know for sure whether I have fixed the vibration. It is better for sure but it's hard to say how much better. I only drove it about five miles on the freeway so I need to take it for a longer drive. I also need to get it aligned. That's planned for later this week.

I'll summarize everything when I'm done.

 

[rwatson]

I have had a frustrating several weeks. I'll summarize what I've finally found.

I believe my vibration problem have been resolved. What started off in the front of the truck ended up at the rear. The rear u-joint was shot. I had checked the driveshaft several times and didn't find any play in the u-joints. I was under the truck last night checking the exhaust system and just caught a bit of bright metal on one of the u-joint caps. After looking closer, I noticed it also had a crack down the side of it too. I pulled the driveshaft and the u-joint was shot. Replaced both u-joints and what a difference it made.

I'll have to put a few more miles on the truck but after a short trip on the freeway I'd have to say it is pretty smooth.

If in doubt, pull the driveshaft and check the u-jounts. It doesn't take long.

 

[88vert]

Great glad you got it

Did you grease the slip yoke while you had the driveshaft out?

 

[rwatson]

I also wanted to add a few other things I found while I was underneath the truck. They must have all contributed to vibrations, rattles or other wierd noises.

I found the heat shield that belongs between the trans and the cat converter jammed up between the transmission and the bottom of the truck.

I also found the transmission cooler lines rubbing on the frame. At some point they would have rubbed through.

The overflow line from the top of the transmission was rubbing against the crossover pipe. Nothing major but it looked almost like they were welded together as a brace.

I'm still trying to figure out whether or not the top of the transfer case actually has been hitting the bottom of the truck. It looks like it has dented the bottom. The rear trans mount looks fine.

Now, I'm off to my next project.