Ball joint replacement parts and ball joint press kit suggestions?

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Vincent Vega

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Guys,
I noticed weird front-end clunking and looseness at times while offroading. I did a front end check and found that the passenger side ball joint is worn out.
There are lots of different ball joint kits out there, but I want one that comes with the right size cups for our Expeditions, so I do not have to buy a separate set of cups. Does anyone have any suggestions.

Also, I got all excited when I saw that the Moog ball joint part has a grease fitting. Now, I am not a Moog guy, I am a Motorcraft guy. This is because I am keeping my 04 forever, and because I have been burned by aftermarket crap too many times. But the Motorcraft has no grease fitting.
So I need to check - has anyone had good or bad experiences with Moog ball joints?
Thanks for your help.
 

Hamfisted

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I replaced the complete lower control arm with a Moog unit. That was 100k miles ago and it's still tight, and has a grease fitting. I think they've gone to a "lubed for life" non greaseable design now though.
I did the complete lower control arm because it came with new bushings and the new ball joint already installed and all I had to do was remove nuts and bolts and swap it out. If your lower bushings are original it might be worth considering.
 

BlackCoffee

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I replaced my lower with Moog. It also had a grease fitting. I did the Upper Control Arm with fitting, new struts, and lower Ball Joints. Started with the Upper Control Arm and then decided to do it all.
The 21 Piece Orion Motor Tech at $95 has everything you need. The lower ball joints are tough. You might save the money on the removal kit and follow Hamfisted's advice. Just get the entire control arm.
 

NASCAR Mike

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I used Moog on my 08 Expy. It has the zirk fitting on it. I used the loaner ball joint press from Advance Auto. Sprayed both ball joints with PB Blaster the day before and they came out very easy.
 

the bus

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I tried pressing out the lower ball joint and i ended flairing it out. So i ended up with moog lower control arms. For the upper control arms... moog was not on point with a 2003 / 2004. Motorcraft had 2 part numbers. Moog tech support gave me a run around until i pointed out motorcraft versions. With all that i discovered mevotech ( the better grade) for uppers and reconized 2 part differences. I would use them again.
 

keg914

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I have replaced both lower balljoints successfully in my 03 Expy. I used the Autozone rent-a-tool for the balljoint tool. I will admit, however, when it came time to pressing the new ones back in, the tool was slightly tilted and the process was a little shady. But the new balljoint pressed right in. I installed new moog balljoints with the serviceable grease zerk from Rockauto.com.
 

Speed 330

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Guys,
I noticed weird front-end clunking and looseness at times while offroading. I did a front end check and found that the passenger side ball joint is worn out.
There are lots of different ball joint kits out there, but I want one that comes with the right size cups for our Expeditions, so I do not have to buy a separate set of cups. Does anyone have any suggestions.

Also, I got all excited when I saw that the Moog ball joint part has a grease fitting. Now, I am not a Moog guy, I am a Motorcraft guy. This is because I am keeping my 04 forever, and because I have been burned by aftermarket crap too many times. But the Motorcraft has no grease fitting.
So I need to check - has anyone had good or bad experiences with Moog ball joints?
Thanks for your help.
Moog used to be the best chassis parts that you could buy I'm not sure now if they're made in China but at one time they were top-notch
 
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Vincent Vega

Vincent Vega

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Moog used to be the best chassis parts that you could buy I'm not sure now if they're made in China but at one time they were top-notch
Yeah @Speed 330 If Moog was upfront on the website and said their parts are USA made, I would have already ordered and installed them. But they are not up front about that, it made me think twice so I needed to check around on here and see if others have had good experiences.
 

jr1under

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In 2016, because of the clunking, I replaced the worn-out lower ball joints on my 1999 with the Moog equivalent(+Zerk). No issues since so it's thumbs-up from my experience.
 
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