Ball Joints & Control Arms DIY...???

[Explor2Exped]

So my upper & lower ball joints are completely trashed. I'm actually worried to be even driving around with them as bad off as they are.

Squeak here a squeak there, turn here squeeeeeeak, bump there sqe squeak sqe squeak ya get the point.

Ford dealership wants $600 labor JUST labor to fix it.(not including their overly priced dealership parts)

My mechanic wants over $1,000 to get the job done.

I've resorted to try and fix ball joints myself. NAPA wanted almost $400 to rent out a ball joint press. I bought this tool at my local hardware store for $59.00.

So I'm all PUMPED up to tackle this job, jacked up the Expy, took the tire off & here's where sheit hits the fan..

BRAKE CALIPERS WTEFFFF??? These bolts wouldn't budge to save my life!! After all night of reading in manuals & booklets & messing with this SOBin bolts I call it a night.

My neighbor has Impact tools that I can use when he get's back Monday, so I'll go round 2 with it then.

Has anybody worked on Ball Joints? I'd love to hear your stories/experiences or any input at all on this situation would be great!

 

[walnuts4x4]

man... here is my story.... bought a 12 pack of bud lite.... called a buddy... got permission to use body shop (tools,lifts) then called another buddy and watched him change mine....lol

 

[Explor2Exped]

man... here is my story.... bought a 12 pack of bud lite.... called a buddy... got permission to use body shop (tools,lifts) then called another buddy and watched him change mine....lol

haha niiice!! I offered a friend $250 and I'd pay for parts but he wouldn't do it.

 

[KWT2000]

haha niiice!! I offered a friend $250 and I'd pay for parts but he wouldn't do it.

hell i would on jumped on that wanna make the drive over here LOL

 

[Explor2Exped]

hell i would on jumped on that wanna make the drive over here LOL

I actually mapquested to see how far of a drive it would be & it has enough miles on it to begin with, hah.

 

[alaskanexpy]

ball joints(most front end parts) and auto trannys are 2 things i wont touch lol everything else though i'm game on!

good luck! fingers crossed for ya!

 

[99 Expy]

Just making sure, but on the calipers, the bolts you are taking off are just 2 little like 8mm bolts right? I have never had a problem with them being really tight. Maybe spray some PB Blaster and let them sit for a little while, and get a breaker bar if you need would be more than enough as long as they don't brake.

As for ball joints, I replaced all of my bushings and everything last summer. I rented the ball joint press from O'Reilly's, and it cost $130, but if you brought it back unbroken, you got a full refund.

I used MOOG ball joints, and for the upper ball joint, I bought the entire upper control arm with the ball joint in it since they don't make MOOG ball joints to fit the stock control arm. That was a lot easier, since you just have to swap out the control arm. I took the the spindle off along with the CV shaft for more room. I'm pretty sure you can get by without doing taking it off though. When you get to removing the ball joint, remove the snap ring, and set up the ball joint press. It's pretty easy to figure out I thought. You will need an air impact. Mine pressed out pretty good. The new one goes in the same way, but just make sure that the ball joint is going in straight and not crooked. You will have a lot easier time lining it up the first time than having it go in crooked and taking it out to realign. When the ball joint is all the way in, put the snap ring on and reassemble.

This guy has a pretty good write up, and will touch base on the things I didn't. Hope all goes well, and take your time. You will be much happier to take more time, than to go fast and brake something.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/364301-how-to-replace-the-ball-joints-on-your-97-03-f-150-4x4.html

 

[KWT2000]

no he would be taking off the 2 18mm bolts for the caliper braket...

but according to the video he could do it eitherway

 

[panda24619]

here you go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkXYXgWBzSg

 

[99 Expy]

Shoot, my bad. Forgot about that part, but if you have a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar, use that and possibly throw a pipe over the end of it and that should do the trick if you are in a hurry, but the impact would work great.

 

[Explor2Exped]

Thanks guys but I took the lazy way out and paid some drive to your house mechanic for just $165 without parts.

I found out I was unscrewing the wrong bolt (like 99 Expy said) on the calipers or I could have saved the money & done it myself.

So the estimate for the job was $350 but the price of the parts I bought he took off.

I told him BEFORE he took the knuckle off to DISCONNECT the ABS sensor. He didn't & snapped those wires outta the housing. "Oh, that was already broken it just slipped out" he says. I told him the ABS light wasn't on until he touched it, whatever.. We came to agreement to go half each on the part, so he took $15 off the labor for my half. He'll bring the part Monday, supposedly.

After he installed everything I took it to Shell to get aligned. Wow who knew it would cost over $200 for a full alignment. (I didn't) I only had enough for the Basic for now. (That's just Toe)

Looking back on this now & what I spent I wished I did the job myself. (If only I read 99 Expy's 8mm hint before hand.)

 

[jacks3am]

at least you got them done, whata douche mechanic!

 

[99 Expy]

That sucks about your part, and the alignment price seems high, but at least you got it all done. How long did it take him to finish it? Mine took me a little over a day, but I went really slow, and ran into some problems while changing my bushings, so I don't think $165 is too bad, but I got plenty of experience from doing them myself, both good and bad.

 

[Explor2Exped]

at least you got them done, whata douche mechanic!

agreed...

 

[KWT2000]

After he installed everything I took it to Shell to get aligned. Wow who knew it would cost over $200 for a full alignment. (I didn't) I only had enough for the Basic for now. (That's just Toe)

Looking back on this now & what I spent I wished I did the job myself. (If only I read 99 Expy's 8mm hint before hand.)

your joking on that alignment price right???

a full alignment here is $70 thats Toe, Caster, and Camber.... and just the Toe is $40

there is nothing to adjust on the back so that IMO is a rip off..

either way im glad you got it fixed

 

[Explor2Exped]

That sucks about your part, and the alignment price seems high, but at least you got it all done. How long did it take him to finish it? Mine took me a little over a day, but I went really slow, and ran into some problems while changing my bushings, so I don't think $165 is too bad, but I got plenty of experience from doing them myself, both good and bad.

He banged it out pretty quick, less than 2 hours. He didn't use a ball joint press though & opted for using his jack with a hammer. I wasn't sure if that was innovative or ridiculous.

Now why is it that the Camber & Castor adjustment is so dang high? Is that something I need to really worry about? (looking at the pictured diagram)

 

[Explor2Exped]

your joking on that alignment price right???

a full alignment here is $70 thats Toe, Caster, and Camber.... and just the Toe is $40

there is nothing to adjust on the back so that IMO is a rip off..

either way im glad you got it fixed

Seriously??? He kept saying that a full alignment NEEDED to be done and I was like no just do the front. Then he's like the only way to do the caster & camber of the front is if I do the back too.

I don't know much about alignment so maybe he got one over me..?

 

[KWT2000]

Now why is it that the Camber & Castor adjustment is so dang high? Is that something I need to really worry about? (looking at the pictured diagram)

If the Camber is out it will wear out your tires in a hurry and make the truck pull one way or the other...

Caster is more safety as it will not wear out your tires but it can control your turning radius and wheather or not your sterring wheel comes back to center after a turn

 

[Explor2Exped]

If the Camber is out it will wear out your tires in a hurry and make the truck pull one way or the other...

Caster is more safety as it will not wear out your tires but it can control your turning radius and wheather or not your sterring wheel comes back to center after a turn

I have new tires on so I'm guessing full alignment is needed asap.

 

[KWT2000]

Seriously??? He kept saying that a full alignment NEEDED to be done and I was like no just do the front. Then he's like the only way to do the caster & camber of the front is if I do the back too.

I don't know much about alignment so maybe he got one over me..?

i use to do autoservice...

the type of alignment on a 1st gen expy is called a Thrust Angle ( basicly you set the front to align with the rear... in turn you can't set the toe correctly if the camber and caster are not set... you still have to the heads on all 4 wheels and true them up, to do any part of an alignment.... I would find a new shop to get it done correctly

(you can shim the rear, and i have seen it done but i don't reccomend as if you have a bent axel you should just replace it, but to shim an axel is pertty spendy)