Lower Ball joints

[NudieWin]

My mechanic just told me today my lower driver ball joint might be going out and he did the ball joints all the way around a guys explorer a few years back and it cost about 1000 bucks due to how labor intensive it is... how tough is it to do it yourself? its on my front so I think I could get by with just doing 2 at least for now.

 

[nssj2]

wow. 1000 is a LOT for that. parts- (91 upper, 41 upper pass, 35 low 35 low). lifetime warenty at autozone. you need a ball joint press and big hammer for the lowers, patients for the driver's upper to get that bolt out, and your set for a not too bad job. there are some really good write ups here
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188227
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165352

give yourself a day to do it. good luck!

 

[NudieWin]

wow very much appreciated I read them both all the way through and feel like something of an expert new

lol....it really doesnt look all as hard as one might think. I might have to just take care of it this weekend why wait.

Thanks again!

 

[nssj2]

let us know if you get stuck

 

[NudieWin]

Thanks parts are all ordered and on their way....I guess if I gotta pay for labor it might as well be mine I'm alot cheaper than a business haha

 

[chad551]

Get a ball joint press. Any parts store will loan them to you for a deposit. And when you finish the entire job in a couple hours, go back and kick your mechanic in the nuts for trying to F@#$ you.

Chad

 

[chinesemechanic]

i just did all 4 of mine yesterday after work and it took about 5 hours. the hardest part is the drivers side upper control arm bolts. the fuel lines and brake lines are a pain in the a$$. just be careful and makes sure you don't break one of them.

 

[NudieWin]

lol well im off to do mine here in about 15 minutes so if none of you hear from me again its because im walking home from my brothers garage in the next town lol

 

[NudieWin]

wow....a couple times I thought i was screwed....no pickle fork...no ball joint press....got both sides done in a little under 4 hours i think almost 3 of it was spent on the first side cuz i wasn't sure of what I was doing....I thank all of you who helped and especially the how to threads!

 

[Ray Lobato]

Well congratulations! You just saved yourself 900 bucks. Hey that's better than switching to Gieco.

It's really not that hard to work on your truck. I bet next time you have to do this job, it will only be about an hour. I've got it down to about an hours time to do lowers on both sides.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

The first side always takes twice as long as the second, but it's worth the effort. Makes you wonder why mechanics charge $900 for the job doesn't it?

 

[NudieWin]

well ya...he was saying it was so labor intensive...and I agree to a point but I didnt have a ball joint press or a pickle fork and I owned that front end lol I should post a picture of that ball joint he said was bad....man its rough...

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Ray Lobato]

You don't need a pickle fork and I use a large deep set socket to go over the top of the ball joint, then use a BFH to pound it in. I also use the BFH to drive the ball joint out, that is after you remove the clip.

 

[NudieWin]

I had my brothers ten pound splitting moll...you would be amazed how few wacks it takes when you get a BFH like that haha