Removing lower ball joints?

[Jeff532003]

So in doing a lot of searching it seems that people have mixed results with getting the lowers out of stock control arms. I'm curious to hear experience that anyone on here has had with this job. Specifically is it worth it to try and do it yourself along with bushings to save over 250 dollars vs buying new Moog lowers?
I should have most of the tools I need just not sure about the proper adapters for the press.

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

Doing the ball joints yourself is well worth it if you have the tools and are willing to put in the time ad effort. If you have 4x4 you will need the Ford 4x4 adapter kit to press the ball joints. You can rent that at Autozone. Once you get in there it is pretty straight forward. Good luck with it

 

[Brusky]

Def. worth it. Just a little time consuming. And I would def get ones with grease fittings. Took me about 5hrs. I rented the tools from advanced. I have pics of mine completed in my album

 

[Jeff532003]

Thanks guys. I was definitely hoping to do it myself. Much cheaper than buying the whole new arms. I just saw several places that said they weren't serviceable on the 4x4.

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

The lowers are serviceable. They can be pressed out of the lower control arm. The uppers you have to put in the entire control arm with the ball joint pre-pressed. The uppers are a PITA because if you take the upper control arm off and you dont mark it right or put it back exactly right you have to get the camber reset or you will quickly tear your tires to shreds. So keep that in mind as you dig in there.

 

[districk81]

I have a2ooo and I need to change my lower ball joints.its a 2wd do I have to have a press or can I just beat it out with a baby sledge hammer?

 

[Jeff532003]

The lowers are serviceable. They can be pressed out of the lower control arm. The uppers you have to put in the entire control arm with the ball joint pre-pressed. The uppers are a PITA because if you take the upper control arm off and you dont mark it right or put it back exactly right you have to get the camber reset or you will quickly tear your tires to shreds. So keep that in mind as you dig in there.

I know all about the uppers lol but thank you for your advice. The moog ones I'm buying are servicable if I ever get to where they need to be done again. I plan to do the whole suspension so inner and outer tie rods will be replaced so I've got an alignment in the budget already
About the caster and camber though, are the cams already installed on the truck or did you have to buy the alignment kit? I haven't gotten in there to take a look yet.

 

[FordandPolaris]

I have a2ooo and I need to change my lower ball joints.its a 2wd do I have to have a press or can I just beat it out with a baby sledge hammer?

Well the press is for putting them back in. Use a ball joint fork to take them out. For the ball joint fork, a baby sledgehammer will work fine! I am sure you will need the press to put them in, but not having a 2wd truck, I cannot say for sure.

 

[Jeff532003]

I have a2ooo and I need to change my lower ball joints.its a 2wd do I have to have a press or can I just beat it out with a baby sledge hammer?

Just fyi, for the 2wd, RockAuto Parts Catalog has the Moog R series lower control arms for 57.99 a side. By the time you buy a decent ball joint and bushings which you should do as well it's about the same price. There's a discount code in the rock auto section on this site you can use.

 

[BlRob]

do you have to loosen the torsion bars to replace the ball joints or does it matter? Saw the video from 1AAuto and the guy loosened them up. Other than that it looks pretty straight forward. I've done them on older Explorers and never did anything with torsion bars.