This is nuts - Lower ball joint problem

[DWolf]

OK. HI, (First time poster)

So I was getting tire wear on the inside of both sides in the front. Rears are fine. My son checked and both lower ball joints had lots of play. Changed all four joints (they only sell the uppers installed in arms..so we have new upper arms as well. My son installed the whole mess...broke a brake line and lost all the fluid. I could not bleed the brakes so I had the wife take it to the dealer to bleed them (HCU on the ABS must have ingested air) - dealer tells her it will be around 1K to fix everything.....says the calipers on the rear are on backward and that it need front pads and rotors. He also noted the lower ball joints are the wrong ones.

Turns out the kid did go get new rear calipers as he could not break the bleeders....swapped sides and installed them upside down. I corrected all this and bled the brakes. Now however I cannot get a lower ball joint that fits this thing. They all rub the RIM...the threaded bit actually touches on the drivers side and is about 7/16 from the passenger side.

WTH is going on here - Advance Auto parts gave me two ball joints already and they are all too long...Tried some from Autozone but those won't go in the hole in the arm all the way. Seems as though they are ****ed to the outside to far as well.

The ARC is shot - and the inside front tires wore all the way to the belts about 2.5 in in from the inside edge, leaving decent tread on the outside edges.

I gotta have something assembled wrong or something - but since I did not take it apart I have no reference. I read the lower ball joint thread here, but mine is not going together correctly some where? Please help - been down for over a week and spent a couple of hundred including the 180 the dealer charged to not bleed the brakes....

97 Explorer Limited w/ARC and ABS (its loaded w/every option - bought used for 2995 three years ago w/ 120K on it -clean as heck)

 

[waskly]

few questions stock rims?

replacement ball joints or oversize?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225

you should of made sure the new one is the same lenght as the old one. once the old one is out.

also is the snap ring on the lower ball joint?

 

[bse068]

I too have notice this wear pattern on my ex. I was reading past posts and was wondering if now is the time to install the camber adjustment kits to the front wheels and then take the truck to the alignment shop.

 

[Turdle]

Are the hubs blown? rotors on? My wheels do not even offset in far enough to hit the bolt if it was too long. hmmm

 

[DWolf]

Thanks for the replies....

Stock Limited rims (the aluminum ones)...hubs are relatively new. Since the Upper arms were out there could be something off on top. The lower ends would track roughly right along the inner edge of the rim as is.

A new development - the lower ball joint from Advance Auto parts has enlarged the hole in the control arms such that the ones I got from Auto Zone will slide out under the weight of the tire which I set back on the hubs just long enough to check the bolt clearance - I have not put the caliper back on yet as I wanted to see if I had gained clearance on the drivers side before disassembling the passenger side again. The passenger side still has the lower ball joint from Advance in it and there is a little over a 16th of clearance on that side with everything assembled and the tire on the ground.

This is a 4x4 limited - if that makes a difference. The ARC is totally shot so I need to change the air shocks to "real" ones...the ride height is kinda screwed until I get that fixed. But that alone should not have caused the ends of the ball joints to come inside the rim edge (if that is not normal as was noted earlier). I am just about to give up and have it towed in...

 

[Turdle]

Another direction to try--new lower control arms from rockauto.com are around 90-100 bux
Loaded with new bushings and new ball joint --just bolt in the new arm.

That is how I would go at this--

 

[Karpiel73]

This really has me stumped. Could be the LCA bushings like Turdle said. Did the top ball joints fully seat into position? Were you able to install the pinch bolt? If not then that in theory would make the knuckle sit lower than it should on the lower side. I sat here for 15 minutes staring at pictures of the front end and thats all I came up with, it is after midnight though. Keep us updated and good luck.

 

[Abbondanza]

I did my front lower ball bearings last summer, I used RockAuto to get two of these : RAYBESTOS Part # 5051221 and they fit correctly on my 1996 XLT. Hope that helps.

 

[jremington59]

I have about 1 3/4 inch clearance on mine before it would touch. The only thing that makes sense is if you were running 14 in rims.

 

[DWolf]

I have about 1 3/4 inch clearance on mine before it would touch. The only thing that makes sense is if you were running 14 in rims.

I could not get that much clearance using any ball joint made by any manufacturer... On the passenger side I have about an 8th maybe. I am going to take some pics and post to see if that helps....

Thanks

 

[Karpiel73]

Pictures are good

 

[DWolf]

SOLUTION - in hand....

The fact is that Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, and Car Quest do not sell correct replacement lower ball joints for the lower control arms installed on my limited with ARC and 4x4.

The correct Ball Joints are installed in the LCA's when you purchase the assembly.

The difference (and the way to know you got the wrong ones) is the thickness of the ring that seats against the bottom of the arm. The ones that all of them sold me are thicker and thus move the end of the bolt further from the arm. Couple that with extra long threads and a slightly narrower joint bit...and wa-la the rim and the joint get kinda intimate....as it were.

The guys at both Auto Zone and Car Quest got me both an arm and the joint suggested by their computers....you guessed it...different.

Wonderful ....now I gotta find my puller or get the tool to let the torsion bars loose.