Upper Control Arm/Ball Joint Questions

[96EddieB]

Hey guys, new to the site. I've spent the last 4 hours searching and reading the forums, great info!

But now the questions. I'm currently selling my dad's '96 Explorer 4.0 2WD. Before doing so, I talked him into letting me partially rebuild the front end. New lower and upper BJ's and tie rod ends. The truck has 184K miles and they're pretty shot to hell, making the steering dodgy and created some nice thunks.

Lower ball joints are a pain but pretty straightforward. They're definitely not "gliding in" like they should. :frustrate

My main question is the upper control arm. I don't know any of the truck's history, and the control arm doesn't appear to be stock. I believe this is a stock control arm, correct?

Mine is two pieces, with two large bolt/nuts and an adjustment bolt. I'm assuming it's an aftermarket camber kit. So now the question remains...what upper ball joint do I purchase? The ball joint itself doesn't look removable, so I'm assuming you purchase the BJ with bracket. Without knowing who made the camber kit how do I know what BJ/bracket to use? Is it pretty much a standard part?

Thanks in advance for any help, and thanks for the great forum!

 

[Doug]

You have to replace the entire upper arm. Just goto any parts store and pick some up. If you don't have one already you're going to need a ball joint press to install the lower balljoints. You can rent them at autozone and places like that.

 

[96EddieB]

I was under the impression the whole point of the aftermarket control arm/camber kit that's on my Expo was to NOT have to replace the whole arm again?

Also, I have the bearing press, they just don't wanna be nice and go in easy. I'll whoop up on 'em tomorrow though, ran out of patience tonight.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

You said it was stock control arm? If its stock, you have to replace the whole control arm. If its already an aftermarket one (like Moog for example), you can replace the ball joint itself.

 

[etc]

Driver side arm is one piece, passenger side is two pieces, straight from Ford.

 

[karl_burns]

Exactly what etc said.

BTW, when I went to Autozone to get my upper control arms (no time to order Moogs), the parts department had a one piece and a two pice camber-adjustment for the passenger side. I bought the one piece, cuz that's all they had in stock, but I was surpised to have the option. Has anyone else gone with the one piece? 96Eddie, what'd you buy?

Lowers were a pain......

Karl

 

[96EddieB]

Thanks etc, exactly what I needed to know. Kinda weird they would use different control arms depending on which side of the vehicle!

So on the passenger side 2-piece CA, can I buy just the outer piece or do you still have to purchase the entire arm assembly?

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

i believe you can buy just the "outer" piece on the pass. side. Make sure to replace with ones with grease fittings. Lowers suck - i couldn't get my driver's side out and ended up banging the **** out of the threaded part - still wouldn't come out - and then couldn't get the nut back on b/c i bent the threads = towed to mechanic, paid BIG $$$$$

Are you making these repairs so that you'll get more for it? Not sure that $300 in repairs will get you much more in return.

 

[96EddieB]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Problem I'm having with lowers is getting them back in. I even sanded and cleaned the mounting hole to shiny new metal. Even the ball joint press can't get it in. I've resorted to using a jack and large deep socket to jack up the ball joint and control arm and beat the arm down on to the BJ. Not a fun process, not very productive, and the neighbors are not very fond of it.

Someone agreed to purchase the vehicle, after a successful inspection. During the inspection they found both U&L ball joints were EXTREMELY bad on the passenger side and quoted around $900 for the job. I told the buyer I could do it for about $200 if he agreed to buy the truck. So if I get them done, I sell the Explorer.

 

[KPT]

As has been stated already the right side upper control arm is two piece stock. I had no problems getting the lower balljoints in and out with a press. The MAJOR PITA is the left control arm. My whole front end is Moog now, the right side just comes with the part of the control arm that bolts onto the other part that is bolted to the the frame. The left side is a major PITA since you have to get the cams/wedges out and the return fuel line, brake lines and other things are in the way. I had to cut a ground wire that came out of a harness right there and went to the frame. ****ty design if you ask me.

 

[96EddieB]

Mission successful! Thanks for the help guys. Turns out the problem with the lower BJ's was actually the press I had loaned from AutoZone. The previous borrower had smashed a few threads in the middle of the huge screw, not letting it tighten anymore. So what I thought was the BJ fighting me was actually the tool itself.

Went and got another setup and had them in after 15 minutes. Also changed both tie rod ends and passenger upper BJ, the driver side was fine. The truck handles and steers so much better now.

I also plan on doing a Seafoam flush and MAFS cleaning as a courtesy to the soon-to-be new owners.

Thanks again for the help guys!

 

[KPT]

Hope you get an alignment, or at least tell whoever you're selling it to that it needs one.

 

[96EddieB]

Yep, it already needed an alignment anyway. New owner plans on doing it as soon as we leave the DMV.

 

[Tony H]

Next time .Freeze the BJ's overnight. Helps a lot

 

[etc]

I had a tough time with the first lower balljoint, only cause I was using the wrong cup size. = X After figuring that out, the other lower was cake.

 

[Buckshot]

Next time .Freeze the BJ's overnight. Helps a lot

Why freeze them?

 

[97BlackX5.0]

freeze metal = contracting
heat metal = expanding

 

[Tony H]

yup. freezing will shrink them up a few .001's... it does make a big difference when pressing them in.

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, if you freeze the ball joint and gently heat the control arm with a blowtorch, they'll often times fall right in. As the arm cools and the joint warms, it locks itself right in place.

The only reason I've been able to come up with for the adjustable passenger side is so that you can adjust the caster of the passenger side wheel to match the driver's side. Instead of setting a specific measurement, they maintain a tight enough tolerance on the chassis to locate the driver's side, then simply adjust the passenger side to match.

Not sure if I'm right on the reasoning, but it's my best guess.

-Joe

 

[Buckshot]

I think Ford musta saved li $.0000000000000001 per vehicle to use less pot metal to make the arm as 1 piece with no adjustment. Or maybe I'm just cynical.