Lower Ball Joint and Outer Tie Rod Replacement

[mrd]

Does anyone know the difference in replacing the lower ball joint & outer tie rod between 2WD and 4WD 2nd gen models? I have this link http://www.haroh.com/explorer/ball_joint.html which details the 2WD method.

I'd like to know if there's any missing steps or tools before I start tearing it apart and have no wheels to get anything needed!

 

[section525]

2 and 4 wheel drives should be exactly the same.

 

[etc]

Same, just less room to wok with on the 4wd

 

[mrd]

OK thanks. I already purchased the parts and just sprayed some PB Blaster on the bolts. I was looking through the parts I purchased at Advance Auto and one of the ball joints they gave me has a massive hole ripped around the dust boot.

I'm going to return them & get the better ones with zerk fittings from Napa tomorrow (if they're in stock). Should it be safe to drive ~10 miles after I sprayed down those bolts?

 

[mrd]

I drove the vehicle around quite a bit today. I assumed since the cotter pins were still in place, it wouldn't fall apart or anything - I was right. I purchased a few more necessary tools and began.

I'm a bit upset as this is the first time I've gotten bad advice from this forum, but I've run into a problem. I may be doing something wrong here, but it looks like I need to remove the axleshaft in order to replace the lower ball joint.

I'm working on the passenger side. I have the castle bolts off. Amazingly the cotter pins were the hardest part so far. Me and a buddy lost a good deal of blood removing them - couldn't find cotter pin pliers in the stores. I twisted the torsion bolt what appears to be as far as it will go counter clockwise. Maybe I should be turning it the other way? This way seemed to give me the most clearance for the lower balljoint, but it still won't clear the lower control arm.

It also appears that even if I did get it to clear the lower arm, there wouldn't be much, if enough, room to get to the top of the lower ball joint due to the big boot on the axleshaft's outer CV.

It'd be great if someone told me I was wrong and I don't need to remove the axleshaft.. I need some more tools to get that sucker off. Looking for info on removing that now.

 

[dreamr]

You should be able to remove the top ball joint from the spindle and take the spindle completely off without any problems. This would leave the axle shaft free to be moved out of the way.

 

[mrd]

Hmm.. I have a brand new upper bj/control arm there.. can I pop that baby back out with a fork without hurting the rubber boot on it? I don't want to shell out another $100 for a new one again.

 

[mrd]

The upper arm was detached from the spindle. The boot was slightly damaged unfortunately. Once free, I spent about 15 minutes wrestling with the spindle and pulling, pushing and prodding until the lower BJ barely slipped out. Amazingly tight.

New BJ went in amazingly easily. In fact it was loose until I had it fully installed with the castle nut. The new castle nut was bigger than stock and I don't have a socket for it, so I didn't torque it. It's tight though. Installed, just needs to be greased.

Began at 1pm and ended at 6pm. I don't know how I manage to spend 5x the estimated time to accomplish it, but I do. Tomorrow I'll do the driver side

Thanks to those who helped and apologies for accusing you of providing invalid advice.

 

[JasonF]

I would be careful if your new ball joint went in so easily. It is supposed to be a press-fit into the control arm and when I did mine with MOOG joints it was so tight I had to use the weight of the vehicle to help press it in. The only thing that holds it into the control arm besides the press fit is the weight of the vehicle and a C-clip. If this was loose I would think it would begin to egg-out the hole after some driving time and eventually risk separating??


Jason

 

[mrd]

I would be careful if your new ball joint went in so easily.

I was suprised that the new joints went right in. They were practically the same size as the hole, and slid right in. I had to hold them up before I put the retaining clip in to keep them from falling out. They seem snug with the castle nuts holding them though. I used the NAPA part # listed in the above link.

I did notice when driving it, at high speeds there's a knocking sensation now, I can feel it through the steering wheel. I assume it's a halfshaft CV, maybe a bit out of whack from the slight pulling on it during the BJ installation.

I'll call NAPA tomorrow morning and ensure the part # matches my vehicle.

 

[RammaR]

mrd,
I'm also doing the upper & lower ball joints on my '96. I started this afternoon on the drivers side and have the new upper arm done. However I think I'm running into the same problem you did with the lower -- how to get the spindle / hub assbemly out of the way to get at the ball joint. Did you end up pulling the hub / knuckle off the cv shafts? What about the tie rod ends? There isn't any play in the tie rods so I was hoping not to replace them. But I'm afriad that if I have to seperate it with a pickle fork then I might damage it a bit. Oh, and since I didn't think I would have to undo the hub from the driveshaft I didn't try to loosen the retaining nut before pulling off the tires. I tried sticking it in 4wd mode but the driveshafts are still turning so I'm thinking of just locked a bar between the lug bolts and turning real slow if I can.

I sure would appreciate any tips you have that would make it a smoother job.

Thanks!

 

[mrd]

No I didn't detach the halfshaft from the spindle. I did detach the tie rod ends. You shouldn't need a pickle fork for those, only a new cotter pin. Mine slid right out after removing the pin, loosening the castle nut, breaking it free with a balljoint press, and removing the castle nut.

Also you will need to have the upper control arm detached from the spindle. Again, you shouldn't need the pickle fork for that if you just replaced it, it will slide right back out after taking out the pinch bolt.

Once the upper arm and tie rod are detached from the spindle, slide the spindle toward the rear of the vehicle. It's very awkward, but at the right angle there is enough clearance to work on the lower balljoint. I had a friend hold the spindle out of the way while I fitted and turned the balljoint press.

Good luck

 

[Bills98Explorer]

No I didn't detach the halfshaft from the spindle. I did detach the tie rod ends. You shouldn't need a pickle fork for those, only a new cotter pin. Mine slid right out after removing the pin, loosening the castle nut, breaking it free with a balljoint press, and removing the castle nut.

Also you will need to have the upper control arm detached from the spindle. Again, you shouldn't need the pickle fork for that if you just replaced it, it will slide right back out after taking out the pinch bolt.

Once the upper arm and tie rod are detached from the spindle, slide the spindle toward the rear of the vehicle. It's very awkward, but at the right angle there is enough clearance to work on the lower balljoint. I had a friend hold the spindle out of the way while I fitted and turned the balljoint press.

Good luck

Thats exactly how I did my lowers.They key is to remove the upper and hloding it to the rear while pressing the old out and the new in.

 

[mrd]

Update on this: I've got some problems. Apparently when I pressed out the old BJs, I must have warped the hole in the LCA very slightly. It isn't visible, but the BJs should have a press fit so they don't move around inside of the LCA hole!

That's exactly what's happened to me. When I hit small bumps in the road, there's a popping sound coming from both sides. I lifted the front end and I can lift the tire and spindle about a quarter inch up & down, with the BJ sliding up & down inside the LCA hole. The top retaining ring is keeping the BJ from falling out the bottom, though I know if I let it alone it will break soon. That ring isn't very tough. And the popping is very annoying.

**
I would highly recommend anyone replacing BJs in the LCA to pull the halfshaft so there is plenty of clearance to ensure the BJ press is properly aligned before pressing out the old BJs. This is likely why my LCA holes warped.
**

Now for my current dilemma. I could spend $200 on a pair of new LCAs, but I'm not rich and the only thing wrong with them is the holes! So I have an idea: weld in the new lower BJs to the LCA. This will defer the cost of new LCAs until if and when these new BJs go bad.

If anyone has any other ideas to secure the BJs in the holes, or comments on welding them, I'm all ears. I plan on asking one of my buddies to do the welding.

 

[JasonF]

Thanks for looking into this and taking corrective action. If you didn't, and your wheel fell off, it would likely end up being another one of those "Ford Explorers are prone to rollovers" threads when in reality it was not the fault of the truck at all.

 

[Bills98Explorer]

Are you sure you had the correct ball joints?
You woulda had to really distort the control arm to make them fit that loose.
Measure the diameter of the old with the new.Or even take your new 1's to a different parts store and compare the diameter.

 

[mrd]

Are you sure you had the correct ball joints?

That was my first question after realizing they should have pressed in. I talked to a NAPA employee who contacted the manufacturer, and they have been producing them for years without ever having this kind of issue. They told him they should be 44.5mm in diameter where it fits into the LCA.

I tried putting back in the old original BJs, they slid in almost all the way, and some small whacks with a hammer put them fully seated. Very close. I talked to a friend and he made a shim with extremely thin brass sheet. Paper thin. The NAPA BJ wouldn't slide in any more, and would have worked if we could get it to press in properly (kept getting ****-eyed and squishing the shim). So it seems there was a tiny discrepency (fraction of a millimeter) between the NAPA diameter, stock diameter, and my LCA hole diameter.

So I had my friend weld them on

Just had it done, it's getting dark so I can't install them tonight (have the whole front end torn apart in the parking lot), but I'm going to take some pics and post them on here, this is awesome. I don't know if they will last or work at all, as it seems there was some type of bushing or seal inside that .. melted

 

[mrd]

you don't see this every day

 

[ryf]

wow... probably needed alot less welding at one time, spot welding it in woulda been better, and not letting it get that hot all the way over... if it works let us know, its a neat idea.

 

[dreamr]

I am betting that you're going to be shopping for a new set of control arms with ball joints soon.