Hey everyone I was wondering if these lower ball joints will work w/ my truck. Mines a 4x2 also... If these won't work does anyone know of where I can find some lower ball joints for my truck?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

Brenton

 

That's the same guy I got mine from. They are standard Ford ball joints bought in bulk when a plant that makes the a-arms closed. He has/had over 30,000 of them!

You're actually getting a better price than I did! Even though they are not the best in the world (read the post below where it was discussed on page 2 in particular) they are fine for replacement purposes in general.

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=6649

That topic was where I posted on that. That's the same seller and he's a great guy. Have no fear to buy them.

 

LOL the shipping price is more than the actual product. I wonder what kind of deal he will give on shipping 2 sets?

 

Well, he shipped two sets to me for the price of one when I emailed him. Don't know what he's doing now.

I had a nice conversation with the guy and he told me how he came to get them and all.

 

I just orderd them, but I was wondering how hard/easy is it to install them & if there are any special toold required to put them in... I've had an estimate for ball joints & the total came to exactly $500, but that place is the biggest rip-off in the world...

Brenton

 

You have to rent a ball joint press from any place like AutoZone(where I got mine from)
once you have the press is not difficult at all.

 

those auto zone press' are a pain the the ***... I had a small shop do it for me and he charged me 10bucks to press in all 4. But he didnt need to remove them, and I finished the install (snap rings, boots, zirks)...the most I'v heard people say they paid is 40bucks.. well worth it in my opinion.

 

Where would you do that @? Also how about getting them out?

Brenton

 

Any "general auto" shop with a press can do it. It is really easy to do, IF you have a press. You can try the autozone tool, but I did and had a hell of a time and ended up taking them to a shop. ( I only got one 1/2 in before I gave up on it) Getting them out is the same deal, remove the snap ring and press it.

I thought the Upper BJ's were non replaceable? Autozone doesnt have part listed for them and even says the Upper Arm needs to be replaced when the BJ is dead?

 

I just called a place about getting them pressed in & they said w/ a front-end allignment & them pressed it was coming to about $280... WTF?!?!

Brenton

 

You can use a "pickle fork" -- aka "ball joint separator". It will probably FUBAR the boots -- but you're throwing away the old joints ANYWAY. You can get one for under $20 at many auto parts stores. Take you new joints in and ask them what size to use to remove the old ones.

Oh, and the way it works is this. It's like a long pipe or rod with an end that is a cross between a wedge and a 2 pronged fork. You insert prongs at the end between the ball joint and the spindle and then drive it with a hammer. The wedge forces the two pieces apart. Simple. Gotta' bang pretty hard though.

If it links, here's a pic of one:

 

I bought a c-clamp press from Harbour Freight tools here in Macon for about $40 bucks. Popped them right out. To put the new ones in [Moog with zerk fittings from NAPA], I put the castle nut on the end, put some grease around the ball joint, pushed the ball joint in by hand[the grease helps to hold it in]. I then got my floor jack and supported the castle nut, hit the end of the LCA about 3 time and boom it went right in!

Be carfull if you buy the ones with zerk fittings, if you over-tighten the fitting, it will snap off!

 

All you have to do is tighten the castle nut to press it in. You don't need any other tool.

 

Ok, so let me get this straight...

To extract the lower ball joints from the a-arm, I need that "pickle fork" (which I already have)... Then to install the lower ball joints, all I have to do is to tighten the castle nut to press the bj's in?

Brenton

 

Yes. When the nut get's really tight, you should torque it to the proper spec. That ensures that you have completely seated the stud. I'll look up the torque for you but I remember 85 lb/ft off the top of my head.

Borrow a torque wrench, or buy one. I didn't have one for years and was lucky enough to find one I could repair from a load of scrap dumped at our steel plant. But I'm glad I have it because I couldn't have done my rear axle buildup properly without it.

Edit: Just checked the service manual. Lower ball joint castellated nut gets tightened to 83 to 113 lb/ft.

 

Disregard what I said above... I have MOOG's and they press in from the bottom... Johns method will work great...

How'd you get them out of the arms with the pickle fork? (just for my own knowledge)

 

Ah, I have NOT removed them from the arms yet! Good point. I was just going to hammer them loose after removing the c-ring.

 

Mr. John, how were you talking to the guy?

Brenton

 

I used "Ask the Seller a Question" in the auction. After he answered, I just went back and forth with email. You know me: I just start talking to people. I guess that's why I'm on the forums so much.

 

I was asking because when I go to pay for those ball joints, it goes to paypal & then it says that I need to enter a credit card nume (I already have an account) then it says that my credit card number is already in my account & it keeps telling me the same thing & if I don' put in a credit car number it sayd that I haven't filled out all the required fields...

Brenton

 

Hope you got that straightened out.

You might want to look at this I posted as well: https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=7200