Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures)

[Pete Deering]

Possibly a dumb a question, but how do you know if the lower ball joints need replacing? I can see that my upper ones do because the rubber part is torn, but the lowers don't seem as obvious to me.

Lift the vehicle and wheel ( tire ) up in the air off the ground. Place a bar under the tire and lift up and down, looking at the joints upper and lower. You will see it move or play. You want a tight joint. Also place your Hands at 12 &6 and move the wheel up and down looking for movement. Then hands at 9&3 move in and out looking for play. You'll be checking HUD bearing, tie rod ends and upper and lower joints.

 

[Trainmaster]

They are both a maintenance item, every 50k too 100k.

The Motorcraft ones seem to do much better. In our fleet, we have many with over 150K that have never failed. Some do go sooner though. Most of the Chinese aftermarket ones are six month junk.

 

[Pete Deering]

The Motorcraft ones seem to do much better. In our fleet, we have many with over 150K that have never failed. Some do go sooner though. Most of the Chinese aftermarket ones are six month junk.

My original factory ball joints failed at 50k under factory warranty; and were non greaseable. At that Time Motorcraft did not offer greaseable ball joints. I believe I installed moog.

 

[gavin]

Might start looking in to Mevotech. They have their TTX line which they claim to be heavy-duty, or at least heavier built.

TTX - Mevotech

www.mevotech.com

product listing for their TTX lower balljoint for 2nd gen Explorer.

Part - Mevotech

This is the page content

www.mevotech.com

I did get a Mevotech TTX pass-side upper control arm (outer piece, kept the 2-piece) as the old upper balljoint was absolutely toast.
can't say too much for it yet, but the boot actually does seal unlike whatever brand it replaced (I believe Moog)

 

[Trainmaster]

Mevotech = China. No thanks.

 

[Trainmaster]

Hey, SKP has a mega-super-heavy duty ball joint too. Best China craftsmanship also. And it's only $5.78 at Rock Auto! It might be painted red. The sell sheet says it's made of steel, iron or aluminum. I guess they're not sure. But they are absolutely sure it's heavy duty.

So why pay $8.00 for the Mevotech? Heck, that's more than $2 I'm saving.

 

[allmyEXes]

@Trainmaster What does a 2010 have to do with a 1997 ?

 

[donalds]

Mevote = China. No thanks.

Not junk on my x been great
You get what ya pay for
Buy Mevotech better grade
like what was suggested above

 

[BenDT]

Not junk on my x been great
You get what ya pay for
Buy Mevotech better grade
like what was suggested above

Agreed. The ttx line seems to be the best brand out right now. Also mevotech is Canadian. I know somethings they make themselves and yes I have totally seen stuff from China. However moog is making its stuff in China. It’s truly not the Chinese manufacturing that is garbage, it’s the quality standards the COMPANY chooses to allow. So, looking for quality, the boots, the machine process, all the stainless, down to supplied hardware seems to be a grade above. The non ttx line outlived my moog front end parts with timken bearings. The moog ball joint boots failed both sides and ended up causing premature were on an almost brand new set of BFG mud terrain. Aftermarket for these is not the same standard it was 10 years ago. Also until I started running marine grease in my ball joints they would always fail 30-40k Bc my tires and driving habits (so I thought). I have not had one lower ball joint wallow out at all. They have all failed trying to seize now instead of slopping around. Just my 2 cents

 

[J_C]

I've read many times about Moog BJ grease boots failing prematurely, but they changed the boot design to a recessed one for this generation explorer, so I took a chance and bought and installed those. However, despite plenty of potholes (which I suspect is what wore out the factory BJs in the first place), I don't have enough miles on them to vouch for them yet, but as far as "time" goes, they (the boots in particular) are 3-4 yrs old, are lasting so far.

You should not need marine grease on any brand, would not provide any benefit, unless you are submersing them at a boat ramp, then of course you need a grease that is a trade off for that application. Keep in mind that if the marine grease is not a compatible formulation, then you have to completely flush out all the original lithium complex grease for best results. I'm not launching boats so am using (at random...) Valvoline synthetic moly, because it's in the lithium complex devoted grease gun.

 

[BenDT]

I've read many times about Moog BJ grease boots failing prematurely, but they changed the boot design to a recessed one for this generation explorer, so I took a chance and bought and installed those. However, despite plenty of potholes (which I suspect is what wore out the factory BJs in the first place), I don't have enough miles on them to vouch for them yet, but as far as "time" goes, they (the boots in particular) are 3-4 yrs old, are lasting so far.

You should not need marine grease on any brand, would not provide any benefit, unless you are submersing them at a boat ramp, then of course you need a grease that is a trade off for that application. Keep in mind that if the marine grease is not a compatible formulation, then you have to completely flush out all the original lithium complex grease for best results. I'm not launching boats so am using (at random...) Valvoline synthetic moly, because it's in the lithium complex devoted grease gun.

You are 100% correct about flushing out the old grease. No argument. And a quality lithium grease will out preform apples for apples. I do live around the beach (and drive on it), I find something muddy daily, and if it floods I’m deep enough I normally find muddy water filling my relay box below my intake (the one for wiper motors and rear wiper relays). With that said I do see a fair amount of contaminants and water. Even with meticulous maintenance and greasing after anything needed I still would see a lot of water logged grease inside the joint that would come out. With marine it does what is supposed to. I would never use it on something that moves more than a ball joint as like I said you’re correct at it’s limitations and correct applications. Wheel bearings I would never use just a marine grease. Though for this jet boat axle I just rebuilt with all galvanized or stainless parts respectively, I did buy this extremely expensive marine rated lithium (just called bearing grease). But it was like almost $40 a tube.

 

[WildWillie69]

Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures) Now with Video!

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to change my passenger side lower ball joint today, so I took some pictures as I went for the benefit of others.

Start by going to Auto Zone and getting their loan a tool ball joint press. I was charged $99 + Tax for the one I had, but all that is returned when you return the tool. A pretty good deal.

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I highly recommend Moog suspension parts, they appear to be far superior to others.

As always, begin by parking the truck on a flat level surface and set the parking brake.

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Pop the center cap, loosen the lug nuts, remove the CV axle nut. A 32mm socket is needed. Jack up the front end, support it with a jack stand.

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Remove the brake caliper, it is held on by 2 15mm bolts, they should be very tight. Hang the caliper from a piece of wire or zip tie, never let it hang from the brake hose.

Remove the dust shield, it is held on by 3 8mm bolts.

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Then remove the ABS sensor bolt, then remove the bolt in the clip that holds the wire to the knuckle.

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Remove the cotter pin from the tie rod end, then remove the castle nut.

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Knock the ball joint loose from the knuckle and tie it up out of the way.

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Remove the cotter pin from the lower ball joint and remove the castle nut.

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Remove the pinch bolt at the top of the knuckle, it takes two 15mm wrenches. A punch may be needed to knock the bolt out. A swift whack upwards with a hammer on the upper control arm will help break it free.

With that, the knuckle should come free, if not a few blows with a hammer should free it. Remove the knuckle, leaving the hub assembly on it.

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Tie the CV axle out of the way, or remove it. I chose to leave mine in place so that I didn't loose any gear oil out of the front diff.

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With that out of the way, remove the snap ring. Needle nose pliers work, but special pliers are made especially for snap rings.

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Remove the grease Zerk and set the press in place. The lower collar should go around the outside of the ball joint, the end or tip of the ball joint should go through the hole in the bottom plate. Penetrating oil may help if your parts are rusty or corroded.

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A 22mm wrench fit the hex top of the press perfectly, I had to use a cheater wrench to pull the bolt around to press the joint down.

You can see in this picture the joint is moved down slightly.

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After it got going, it went pretty easily-

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Thats it! The old ball joint is out.

To install the new one, leave the Zerk off for now. Find the collar that fits just on the outside edge of the ball joint. Put the round plate with the larger hole at the bottom of the collar. Under that plate put the largest collar. It seems strange, but when you see what it does, it will make sense.

Start the ball joint into the arm, put the collar assembly against the bottom, then raise a jack up, pushing up on the ball joint. Raise the jack enough to load the suspension, then with a hammer, tap the arm, my ball joint went right into place. Make sure the snap ring groove is fully visible.

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Notice the use of a jackstand to support the truck.

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I also try to put the tire I remove under the truck in a place where if the truck falls for some reason, it won't fall flat on the ground.

Snap ring and grease Zerk installed.

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Slip the CV axle splines in the hub, then put the lower ball joint through the knuckle, start the castle nut.

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Put the upper ball joint in the knuckle, slip the pinch bolt through, tighten the upper bolt up, then the lower nut and install the cotter pin.

Put the tie rod end back through the knuckle, tighten the nut and install the cotter pin.

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Put the ABS sensor back in the hub, tighten the bolt that holds it in. Put the clip on the back of the knuckle that holds the ABS wire as well. Install the dust shield.

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Put the rotor back on the hub, reinstall the caliper. Make certain to tighten the bolts very tight. Some blue locktite is a good idea as well.

Put the wheel back on the studs, tighten the lug nuts as tight as possible with the wheel off the ground. Start the CV axle nut.

Raise the truck to take the weight off of the jackstand, remove the jackstand, lower the jack.

Tighten the CV axle nut, it should be very tight, use a breaker bar to torque it.

Tighten the lug nuts and replace the center cap.

Thats it!

The tools I used:

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I have received several PM's and e-mails thanking me for this write up, I appreciate them all. Please feel free to continue to do so but also remember this:

The best thing you can do to show your appreciation is spend $20 and be an elite member. All these pictures and pages have to be hosted somewhere, web hosting and site software all cost money. None of this would be possible without Rick's time, efforts and money.......

Ford Explorer Club Elite Explorer Membership

Kudos on your photo series. P.s., after suffering a few "falling off the jack" episodes as a young wrench (BEFORE common sense prevailed and I bought a pair of jackstands!! ), I too use the "tire under the truck" tip, so, if it DOES fall somehow, it WON'T crush my legs, feet, or ... ME !! CHEERS.

 

[XLTrunner]

Speaking of lower ball joints, if anybody is interested, Rockauto has the Moog K8695T on wholesaler closeout for $15.07/ea. I put these on my Explorer 7 yrs and 35K miles ago and both joints and boots are holding up just fine.