Front End Question

[PekingMan]

This weekend I am putting on Warn Manual hubs and I thought it would be a good time to replace some other things such as repacking the wheel bearings and such. My question though, is whether or not I should do the ball joints? I kind of follow the rule of "while its apart, I might as well..." but I don't know how much further work the ball joints are and if its worth doing. I have 141,000 miles on the Ex and I honestly don't even know what the syptoms of bad ball joints are, or when they are due to be replaced.

 

[dogfriend]

They shouldn't move much other than pivoting. There is a spec for how much they can move, and you can measure with a dial indicator but if they move enough that you can feel or see its probably too much.

If you jack up the front, letting the suspension hang free, then grab the top and bottom of tire and try to move tire in and out of wheelwell. If you feel movement, its probably too much.

 

[MyExpWork]

I could tell when mine were bad. When I was adjusting the bearings, I could never get the play out of them. Then I leaned under the front of the truck while moving the tire, sure enough, they were bad.

But, changing the ball joints is a pretty big job. It is a lot of extra work when you are just changing to manual hubs. But, I did mine in about 4-5 hours each side. No special tools just a BFH.

Good luck.

Brian

 

[dogfriend]

I looked this up in my 97 factory manual and in Chilton manual. They both say that max movement between steering knuckle and upper or lower axle jaw (control arm for 95+) is 0.8mm or 1/32 inch. The procedure to check is as I described above; try to move tire in or out by top and bottom, and look for movement between knuckle and axle. They recommend two people; one to move tire, the other to watch for movement.