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Ball Joints worn

Tommy2000

Well-Known Member
Joined
January 25, 2000
Messages
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City, State
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Year, Model & Trim Level
93 Sport, 92 EB
So I brought my explorer in to the shop b/c of a bad front end on the highway, and they tell me that it needs new balljoints. I grabbed the front wheel when it was up and got a lot of play both left to right, and top to bottom.

1) Is this the correct diagnoses
2) If yes, is it reasonable to consider doing it myself?

Thanks,

T

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93 Sport 4X4, 150k Mi, Llumar Metallic Tinted Windows, GTS Taillight Covers, Sony CD and Boston Acoustics drivers
Bosch +4's. Modified Airbox, Allied 8.5mm wires (Splitfire wires on order) 31x10.5's
 



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I recently had my ball joints replaced by a professional shop. The answer to q. # 1 is yes. I did this same test at home to make sure it was the ball joints. About q. # 2 I took mine to a shop because there are all of the 4wd components that I didnt want to mess with. Besides mine needed new Radius Arm bushings and an alignment job too. When you do replace them I would recommend replacing both sides because the other side can't be too far behind the worn out ones. Hope this helps.


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Brian
91 XLT 4x4
 






Thanks for your reply!

What kind of $ did you have to spend to get the job done?

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93 Sport 4X4, 150k Mi, Llumar Metallic Tinted Windows, GTS Taillight Covers, Sony CD and Boston Acoustics drivers
Bosch +4's. Modified Airbox, Allied 8.5mm wires (Splitfire wires on order) 31x10.5's
 






The alignment, ball joints replaced on both sides, and new radius arm bushings cost around $750. I can't remember the exact figure. It took them the majority of a day to do it.


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Brian
91 XLT 4x4
 






I replaced my own ball joints on my '93. It is fairly simple to do. I would suggest tearing it down to the spindles and then taking them to a machine shop and let them press the old joints out, and the new ones in. It cost me $100 for the new ball joints and another $25 to have them pressed. I got the parts and had the machine shop work done at NAPA. Good luck!

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Happy Trails!
'93 XLT
Many Mods
To see some pics and to get a full list
of mods I have made to my explorer check out:
Dead Link Removed
swankmi@efortress.com
 






Tommy2000, I replaced all balljoints on my 4x4, in my garage, by myself with common hand tools and a few extras. First extra was the large socket to remove the nut on the automatic hub, (I already had it), the other extra was pitman arm puller to remove the tie rod ends, this made it much easier to to get the lower nut loose from the balljoint, 24mm. After that a large hammer was usfull in getting the knuckle loose from the axle housing, (hit next to the balljoints on both top and bottom). I then took the knuckles to a local machine shop and they pressed the old joints out and pressed the new ones in. After this was done I drove the truck about a week then installed a 3" suspension lift from Rough Country, again, in my garage, by myself, and then I had it aligned. If you're not planning on any other suspension modes, get it aligned as soon as possible.

Balljoints, MOOG, both Uppers and Lowers cost around $95.00 from Carparts.
The machine shop work cost $60.00.

I called around after I'd finished and found that I'd saved anywhere from $500 - $700 dollars in labor. It took me about 7 hours total labor from start to finish, not including the trip to the machine shop.

I'm not a mechanic and I've never seriously worked on any cars prior to owning my truck.

Hope this saves you some $$,
FMNavajo,
'92
4WD, 2Door
4.0 V6
Flowmaster DeltaForce II
K&N drop-in
3" Rough Country Sus. Lift
31X10.5 BFG AT's on 15x7
and on and on
 






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