Ball Joints!

[Diff Whack Daddy]

I did my own as well, but I cheated. I removed the entire steering nuckle, which on a 93, holds the ball joints. I took them both down to a machine shop, along with the new ball joints, and had them press the old ones out and the new ones in. At 5 bucks a press it totalled out for 40 bucks, but it saved time and alot of agrivation.

 

[Harry5150]

Ouch. I see what you mean ...

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by Harry5150
Did you change the bushing in the A arms?

Not sure who you are asking this to, so if you meant me, no, I didn't change the control arm bushings.

 

[Neil98]

Why did you choose the MOOG ball joints, rather than the Ford OEM ball joints? Just curious, because I got a quote for $30/side from the Ford dealer in Texas.

 

[Harry5150]

Moogs have a grease fitting.

The factory ones are sealed & non serviceable.

 

[Neil98]

I see that RockAuto.com has these MOOG ball joints for $29.90/each, as opposed to Napa at $51.49/each. Are they the same part? If so, anyone ever ordered from RockAuto.com and recommend them?

 

[Harry5150]

Damn! Thats a good deal. That's the PN I used.

Get two K8695T.

I'm ordering a set of uppers now!

Good find!

 

[face1092]

oreilly's has the moog ball joints a 29.99 each as well...and you dont have to put up with s&H charges

 

[377Z]

I just had the ball joints go bad on the driver's side of my '94. I've been hearing pops for a while now, and checked the ball joints with the 'old standby' methods (jack up under control arm, pry tire, etc) and they never moved. I think its a peculiarity of the TTB design--I think if a lower is bad the upper will limit the spindle's movement in certain directions when you pry on it.

Did '91-'94's have greaseable fittings from the factory? Mine has greaseable fittings on uppers and lowers, don't know if they've ever been changed.

 

[LStoudenmire]

As far as I know the 91-94'2 did not come with greasable fittings. That is one reason they seem to fail earlier than they should.

 

[bigbadfred]

Yep, I have 118,000 on my X

I have 1 bad lower ball joint and the other going. The front end is super loose and the clunking noise is there too. I had the u joints replaced on both ends of the drive shaft and that took care of the machine gun while holding the steering wheel feeling and the guy said my lower ball joint was bad and my front end wobbles around alot. I am having my upper and lower ball joints changed and my wheel U-joints since the front end will all be taken apart anyway. I say change everything now so, I don't have to worry about it in the near future.

 

[etc]

Harry5150 , do you still have that write up elsewhere? I know this thread is old, but the link isnt working

 

[Harry5150]

I updated the link! Hope it helps you out.

 

[etc]

Thanks alot man! Hopefully it will help. Thanks.

 

[etc]

One question, do you have to remove the tie rod end to do that?

 

[Harry5150]

Nope, not to remove the ball joint. I had it appart so I changed the tie rod ends too. It helped tighten up the steering.

 

[etc]

Ah, ok, cool, thanks again.

 

[DatsunDude]

Did you ever replace your lower ball joint? I am getting ready to do it on a '93 Explorer and am looking for any "lessons learned" before I start.

I just had the ball joints go bad on the driver's side of my '94. I've been hearing pops for a while now, and checked the ball joints with the 'old standby' methods (jack up under control arm, pry tire, etc) and they never moved. I think its a peculiarity of the TTB design--I think if a lower is bad the upper will limit the spindle's movement in certain directions when you pry on it.

Did '91-'94's have greaseable fittings from the factory? Mine has greaseable fittings on uppers and lowers, don't know if they've ever been changed.

 

[davidmmm69]

bought my new ball joints off of ebay and all came with grease fittings..I was a little worried at first but now just waiting for my spindle lift to tackle it all at once..

thanks

 

[crazybill]

i just did uppers and lowers in my 95 sport . it was alot easier than i expected . about an hour and a half per side . i had to put a 4 foot bar on the wratchet i used on the press but they popped out semi easily . i froze the new ball joins overnight and heated the control arm and greased it so they would go in easier but much to my suprise or perhaps my dismay they slid in by hand with little to no resistance . left side tightened up after they 2 parts returned to normal temperature but the right side remained loose in the control arm . i went ahead and assembled it since i didnt have any way to get back to the parts store to get another b/j (assuming that is the problem because the old b/j was the harder of the two to remove) .
i dont know if itll cause me problems or not but if i have to replace it again itll be an ugly day for an advance auto parts store manager . ill know when i take it to be aligned this week .
oh yea , i cleaned off my abs sensore while it was apart and now the abs dash light stays on