Upper Control Arm /Ball Joints

[tmbfi]

I have a '97 Explorer AWD with 170,000 miles on it.Took it to my mechanic and he says I need upper control arms and upper ball joints to the tune of $600. Is this a job I can do myself?

 

[xplorer99]

prob not because u need a ball joint press... im having mine replaced right now for $447 so shop around and see if u can find better then that

 

[Blee1099]

The upper balljoints are permantly mounted to the upper control arms.. They are not cheap but can be done by yourself. You just need to get an alignment afterwards.

 

[Zeke]

You should be able to do it yourself.
The upper control arms come with the ball joints installed. The driver side control arm is a pain in the butt because of clearance issues with the bolts but you just have to be patient. The passenger side is a snap, its a 2 piece design. you only have to replace the adjustable part of the arm not the whole thing.

I used Moog ball joints, they are lifetime guarantied and have grease nozzles.

 

[jamester_a]

I did my lower ball joints and upper control arms (incl the BJs) using this excellent post:

h**p://www.f*rd-tr*cks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364301

I got a loaner lower BJ press, and 32mm spindle nut socket from autozone that worked like a charm. No other specialty tools were required. You need a good 3-4lb hammer. Didn't use a pickle fork anywhere, just some light (literally) tapping with the BF hammer as the post talks about. Also, I did pick up a good quality used Ingersol Rand electric torque wrench (thanks craigslist) to help get off the spindle nuts, but I could have used a breaker bar; it's just more fun to go pbbbbllblbllllll-rap-rap-rap with the torque gun! Didn't have to use any PB blaster anywhere thanks to the West Coast.

I got the lower BJs from rockauto $27@ (greasable MOOG) and the upper arms from autozone $70@ (TRW identical to originals with integral ball joint). There was lots of play in my lowers, and a very very little in my uppers after 120,000 miles, so I decided to use TRW uppers rather than the more expensive MOOGS given the wear pattern and the fact that I am cheap. (That said, the nice thing about the MOOG upper C-Arms is that the upper BJ alone can be replaced separately in the future without the hassle of R&Ring the control arm)

Separating the spindle (steering knuckle) from the upper BJ required a bit of whacking with the BF hammer once the pinch bolt was off, but the only thing that really sucks about replacing the upper C-Arms is that you have to make room to get the bushing bolts (and the camber plates) out by moving/shifting a bunch of brake lines. The lowers were pretty straight forward using the loaner press. I think I spent more time battling the frickin cotter pins than any other single thing You might want to splurge on a cotter pin puller..... Don't forget to wait until the front end is down before tightening the upper c-arm bolts otherwise the bushings will be miss-aligned and fail prematurely. Then it's off to the alignment shop or the stealer. ( In my case it was the stealer for the $29 coupon special)

If you've got the spindles off you should consider doing your tie rod ends too, or have a very good look at them.

Timewise it was about 3 hours on the first side and 2 hours for the second including cleaning up my brakes. The job is not all that complicated but takes a bit of grunting and groaning.

- James