97 2wd balljoints and wheel bearings

[Scout3]

Hi All,

Haven't been here in quite a while as the Explorer has been doing well. My son has been using it and we planned to change the front wheel bearings this weekend to get rid of a slight roar while driving. I jacked up the front last evening to just look this over and get a idea of what we would need to do. I grabbed the tires at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock and it felt good.When I grabbed them at 12 and 6 there was play. I could not see what was actually causing the play but I did notice one of the ball joints had a torn boot and was rather rusty, so I guess I will be changing the lower ball joints too. Should I change the uppers too? I looked at parts online and see a one piece and a two piece upper control arm offered. Which is better? The I think a two piece whould have more chance of getting out of alignment. Anything to look out for in doing this job. I will be studying all the forum how to's before I do anything.
Thanks for any advice.

Ed

 

[koda2000]

i would do upper's and lower ball joints at the same time. the 2-piece upper control arm allows for more caster adjustment. they do offer a one piece for the passenger side, but it's much harder to change. there's no issue with the 2-piece getting out of alignment. as long as your upper control arm bushings are ok, i'd stick with the 2-piece. there are sticky's on changing ball joints w/pics (links below). there's really no need to do a bunch of research. i'd recommend you get Moog replacements through RockAuto. the cheap Chinese parts don't last very long. FYI, the 2wd, 4wd and AWD all take the same parts and the procedure for changing the bj's is pretty much identical.

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

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