Replacing Upper Balljoints, tips?

[Jonny813]

This will be the first time tackling upper ball joints, I don't see any difficulty. I already bought the parts from Discount Auto Parts, they came with the upper control arm and the balljoint already pressed in place(Its the single part control arm), now I heard from a buddy of mine to chain the hub down because of the torsion bar will kick it straight down. But I want to make sure I have everything available to get this done before disabling my vehicle. Do I need to by any "keys" or "clips", or will I just use the old ones? The assembly I bought ONLY came with what I have said above. Also, what size bolts are used down there, I am assuming its god damn metric but who knows, its a ford. From the looks its also seems like I will need some deep sockets. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. (Oh, and I do know about getting an allignment done immediately afterward.) I plan on starting tomorrow morning if possible.

PS, I most likely have a bad wheel bearing on my passenger side. Now I have searched alot and have seen you cant replace the bearing and you have to buy the hub assembly. Not too much, like 170. But is there also any tricks/tips I could get on this?

Thanks!

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

I'd buy a Haynes manual to walk you through the process and use the search function on here for the upper ball joint info. Its been discussed a bunch. Your buddy who told you to chain the hub down is way off. There's no need to do that. The process involves putting a jack under the lower control arm, removing the pinch bolt that holds the upper ball joint stud to the steering knuckle, and removing the pivot bolts. Its kind of a pain, but with some patience and elbow grease you'll be alright.

You may want to have this thread moved to the "General Explorations" forum, as this is the off road suspension tech part. Your situation doesn't apply here.

 

[nissanboy]

pretty simple process...

Jack up the truck to unspring the torsion bars, no need to cahin anyhting down.
Take the bolts that clamp the ball joint stud in the spindle loose.
Hammer the arm loose fromt eh spindle.
Unbolt the arm from its mounts on the frame.
Repeat the process in reverse to re-install.

If you have a large torsion twist it can be a PITA to get teh ball joint stud back in the spindle without some help from a buddy.

Just curious about what you paid for it from Discount Auto Parts if you dont mind me asking.

 

[etc]

If you take out the torsion bar adjuster bolts before taking anything apart, it helps alot. You can raise/lower the lower control arm with the bottle jack if needed.

 

[Sherwood]

front end alignment is a must whenever you do any front end work like that. Speaking from experience. I replaced both upper control arms and went to Superlift knuckles and replaced the passenger side axle shaft while I was in there. The key is to buy a Haynes manual. They are awesome for the guy who works on his own stuff.

 

[Jonny813]

Thanks for the advice. And sorry for putting under "wrong" forum. I originally was writing up a post for any advice on Rancho RS5000 Shocks and balljoints, if there was any tricks, but figured I didn't need any info on shocks so I deleted that part. I wasn't able to get to ball joints today, will do them this week though. Thank you again!

 

[TarHeel085]

whats all this jibberish about unloading the t-bar you DONT have to do that, nor back out the adjusting bolts. i did mine in the shop i work in with nothing more then a 2lb sledge and the tools for the bolts you dont need a jack under the control arm either. and this is right because i had a ford trained mechanic watch me do it. to get it back in the spindle just beat the crap outta the balljoint, it will seat.

 

[nissanboy]

i got a question about this...

for the alignment why do you need an alignment on the one piece arm side?

Can you not just mark the cam bolt and put it back to where it was?

 

[Sherwood]

You can try it. If it dont shake while you go down the road. Then it worked. If not, you have to take it in.

 

[nissanboy]

um an alignment has nothing to do with shaking... shoks and tire balancing will do shacking but not a ball joint. Anyone else?

 

[etc]

whats all this jibberish about unloading the t-bar you DONT have to do that, nor back out the adjusting bolts. i did mine in the shop i work in with nothing more then a 2lb sledge and the tools for the bolts you dont need a jack under the control arm either. and this is right because i had a ford trained mechanic watch me do it. to get it back in the spindle just beat the crap outta the balljoint, it will seat.

I'm not a fan of beating the crap out of things I just changed in. If you unload the tbars, then you can jack up the lower control arm easily with a jack/bottle jack. This lets you get the upper balljoint in and out without having to beat on anything, just a mild tap from a rubber mallet. If the suspension is drooping the stud of the balljoint is angled, which is probably why you needed the 2lb sledge.

With the lowers, undo the nut, give it a little love tap so loosen it up. Then just jack up the control arm to get the balljoint off the spindle.

 

[Sherwood]

um...an alignment has everything to do with shaking. If your tires are toed in or out, it will shake. If the caster or camber is out of whack, you will cause uneven tire wear resulting in shaking of the front end due to tires being out of balance. But when you replace a front end component, like an upper control arm like I did, it doesnt always line right back up therefore you MAY need to take it in for an alignment.