How To: Upper Control Arm / Ball Joint Replacement (Lots of Pictures)

[Jaywalker]

MountaineerGreen - thanks. Okay, so you just pay attention to where they were before, as closely as you can notice without marking anything, right? Then you go get it aligned, true?

Can you do one side at a time? I'm thinking I'll need to drive it the week between the left and right side. I expect much of my time the first weekend will be going back and forth getting tools I didn't have on hand at first.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Not many tools are needed, a socket to loosen the nuts, a few wrenches to remove the pinch bolt and a hammer. I believe the nuts are 21mm, someone who has this fresh on their mind may be able to tell you exactly what you need.

If you put the washers back close to where they came from, you should be OK for a few days, but definitely get that alignment ASAP.

 

[ExplorerXLT95]

Excellent writeup, MountaineerGreen!

 

[isukendall]

Thanks so much for this writeup. I used a combination of this and a couple other writeups, and the job went pretty smoothly. I replaced my upper and lower ball joints, caster/camber kit, and tie rod ends. I took in in to get aligned, and it drives great, save for a couple other problems.

1) I noticed this as I was driving my Ex to the alignment, and it was the same after alignment. I am getting a cyclic rubbing on my front driver side now, once per rev of the tire. If I press the brakes, even slightly, it goes away. So something isn't clearing normally but the compression of the brakes moves it enough so it does. I just got new tires so and they're balanced right, so it's not that. I took the tire off, but couldn't notice any rubbing on the wheel. I haven't dug into my brakes yet. Any ideas what this could be?

2) Ex drives great on the highway, and the steering is now obviously tighter. However, when I make corners at small speeds (i.e. through my neighborhood), I occasionally get some pretty harsh vibration in my steering wheel. This especially occurs if there is a dip or roughness in the road. This didn't happen before I did all this work. Is my CV out of whack? I don't want to take everything apart again and have to get it realigned, it works great going straight and at high speeds but this is obviously concerning.

Thanks for your help! What a great forum this is.....

 

[simso]

Mountaineergreen, thanks for the write up, however I have a question, Im an aircraft mechanic first so I know my way around tools, my question is I am going to pull these of this weekend and lube them up a bit as my front suspension is squeaky as, but what about the torsion arms, do they affect the job, Ive always had to remove coils before when doing this sort of work but never have I ever had to play with torsion arms, how do these affect this job, doesnt matter or do I have to drop the torsion bars as well

Thanks

Steve

 

[CDW6212R]

Unbolting the UCA is an easy step to do most suspension work on the torsion bar trucks. The tension on the torsion bar is almost free with the suspension hanging. It is fairly easy to lift by hand the lower parts back up into the UCA again to reconnect it.

If you need the torsion bar out for any reason, simply disconnect the UCA, followed by the tie rod and end link. Have a floor jack under the LCA for that to completely free the bar, but the pressure is almost nothing(40lbs. maybe). Regards,

 

[gmanpaint]

Evan,
A friend and I are going to attempt this over the week end, will you be around if I run into trouble? Just wondering. Never done this b/4, but I dont have the extra $ for a shop to do it.

 

[average86]

UCA/Upper Ball Joint

lots of good info here... my question is, can you just press out (or unscrew or unrivet) the upper ball joint (similar to the lower), instead of replacing the entire UCA? A few months back I replaced both lower ball joints (pressed out with ball joint press from Advance Auto Parts). Everything went pretty well except I was concerned that the passenger side didn't seem to tighten (not enough threads showing) enough. Turns out, I'm pretty sure, that I received the wrong part at the store. The reason I couldn't really compare the old and new was because the old one was pretty much destroyed (the ball/bolt actually pushed all the way through the "cup" part, and I had to beat the bejeezus out of the "cup" part that remailned in the lower control arm). All that being said, I think that since the new one was not the right part (I believe on the correct part the taper is higher, allowing the wheel to sit in the correct position. It kind of leans a little (bottom out) and the only reason I really paid attention to any of this is my tires are wearing on the inner part.) Now on the e-way at higher (65+) speeds it shakes. I jacked it up and did the ball joint 'tests' and I'm pretty sure since the bottom one was out of whack, it chewed the top one. So to my main question, I'm going to replace the lower (again, this time with the correct part) and the upper ball joints, but I would like to save about $100 bucks and just replace the upper ball joint itself (not the whole UCA). Any input? Thanks for taking the time to read all this crap!

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Unfortunately, you cannot remove the upper joint that I know of. They are not intended to be a serviceable part. Its a pour design IMO, but who knows why they do what they do?

 

[average86]

thanks for the info... I'll just have to wait a few weeks, hopefully it will wait a few weeks too! definitely a poor design... but it is what it is, thanks

 

[jls1znv9999]

Good thread for a beginner and others as well. I might add a few things that may make things easier if i may.

Use a propane torch to heat the spindle side were the pinch nut is (makes it so much easier for a rusty one). Also you will need a 21 metric deep well for the nut (the bolt is held in place by the bolt camber) that holds the receiving portion of the control arm.

I did mine today along with a bunch of other stuff. However getting some vibration when i turn. Getting a alignment (just nice to know i am not just throwing money at the problems)

Thanks for the post!

 

[zonianbrat]

I have some shaking going on at highway speeds and a bit of a creek when I turn on different inclinations or when the suspension flex's up. The truck has 105,000 miles on it and I think it may be time to replace the ball joints. This is a fantastic write-up btw and I will use it but I am concerned as a few people say they have had vibrations after the job was done. Has anybody followed up on this to see what the problem might be and how to fix/avoid it?

 

[ehosterman]

how did you get the bolt near the driver's side door out. my fuel lines are preventing me from being able to remove the bolt?

 

[cruz38]

Upper Control arm bolts

To me this was the hardest part of the job. I had to fiddle with the bolt and slide the control arm in and out (using a hammer) till I found an angle that I could get the bolt to slide in and past lines that were there. Both sides! Also the one complaint I have is that nothing is stated about having to replace the Bolts with Eliptical bolts (Moog Kit available) for the pending alignment adjustment!! Later I did see this stated in other threads but not this one. So, I spent the majority of the time doing this job getting them to slip back in without using a sawsall or damaging something else only to have to go back and redo the bolts...

Otherwise great Write up! and love the pics!

1996 XLT 4Dr 154,000 miles first replacement..

Cruz

 

[Rickshaw Driver]

Thanks for the write up, about to do all four of my ball joints/control arms at 111,000 miles on original equipment. In looking for the replacement Moog parts I see that they have a 1 piece and 2 piece for the right upper control arm. Can someone tell me what the difference is and if one is recommended over the other? It's about a 20 dollar difference.

 

[cruz38]

Spend the money

For sure go with the one piece. Not sure if you have the same year as me (1996) here are the Moog part numbers I used on mine when ordering from Rockauto (Which was excl in their delivery BTW) :
K8708T - CONTROL ARM
K80068 - CONTROL ARM
K8695T - 2 X BALL JOINTS (LOWER)

I don't have the numbers for the alignment bolts but you should get those as well and may as well add the outer Tie Rods for both sides too!



Cruz

 

[Rickshaw Driver]

For sure go with the one piece. Not sure if you have the same year as me (1996) here are the Moog part numbers I used on mine when ordering from Rockauto (Which was excl in their delivery BTW) :
K8708T - CONTROL ARM
K80068 - CONTROL ARM
K8695T - 2 X BALL JOINTS (LOWER)

I don't have the numbers for the alignment bolts but you should get those as well and may as well add the outer Tie Rods for both sides too!



Cruz

Thanks Cruz. I have a 2001 with the 5.0 in it, but the part numbers you provided are the same for mine.

 

[mgreen6712]

I am looking at replacing both upper and lower control arms on my 2000 explorer. I have been told to mark the position of my camber adjusters. Where do I have to mark them? I don't think it is to hard, but I have never done this before. Also is there a write up with pics on how to change the lower arms for the right and left side as well as the right upper control arm?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Ball joints, upper or lower, the process is virtually identical. My camber adjusters, I took a mental note, you can take a picture, then use it to put them back in a similar position. You will need an alignment no matter what.

Look here for the lower ball joint write up link:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1784849

 

[96eb96]

Good thread for a beginner and others as well. I might add a few things that may make things easier if i may.

Use a propane torch to heat the spindle side were the pinch nut is (makes it so much easier for a rusty one). Also you will need a 21 metric deep well for the nut (the bolt is held in place by the bolt camber) that holds the receiving portion of the control arm.

Thanks for the post!

Be careful heating ball joints. They can explode and shatter! A mechanic told me the guy working next to him heated a joint and it shattered into hot shrapnel. Grease is flammable and can explode in there. Be sure to wear safety googlies doing this work!

A cold chisel or screwdriver in the pinch bolt slot will do the trick too. PB blaster helps too.