I'm on a roll here, just replaced all the plugs in my 98 4 cylinder ranger and it went like butta. arownious I love ya man, those "wikianswer" instructions on how to replace plugs for a "95" Ranger you posted in the "just changed the plugs in my ranger, what a joke" thread, page 3 were the bomb. I was worried I was going to have some trouble, nothing of the kind, another check in the box.

....now ball joints upper and lower being the rubber boots on all 4 are gone, nothin left of them, besides you can move the wheels both up and down and left and right, not much mind you but enough...ok rank the difficulty level here..say a scale from 1 to 10...1 being the easiest. And some pointers are always accepted..lol, I have received a lot of good advice and I really appreciate it.

 

bring it to richmond i'll knock it out in about an hour and half... they are not hard to do if you have a balljoint press.

 

Hey ccosgrove....Appreciate the offer, but I'm lucky enough to be able to take it on base to the auto hobby shop, they have everything there, its like a dearlership garage no kidding. But what can a novice like myself expect? I'm willing to try everything at least once.

 

Its def pretty easy, you just need the basic tools and a ball joint press. I have a snap on ball joint press and it freakin is bada**. Its 2wd, right? If so even easier. You gotta support the lower control arm with a jackstand/ jack. Take the caliper off and hang it with a bungi cord.Take the tie rod loose, should be able to hit the knuckle with a hammer to pop it out of there. Take the bolt out for the upper ball joint and the nut loose on the lower ball joint. Dont take the nut off completely on the lower, that way when you seperate the lower form the knuckle it wont fall on the floor and go right on your foot. You may have to use a pickle fork to seperate it. Then press the old ones out, press them in. The uppers maybe a whole control arm. Hope that gives you a little idea

 

Hey I appreciate this ccosgrove, Yes that helps me alot. I notice your bug there, looks like a Super Beetle.....am I right? That was my first car a "72" Super Beetle, sky blue, bought it in "78" absolulty loved that car, drove it everywhere, from Pittsburgh, Pa to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Marthas Vineyard and points out west like Odessa TX (my brother lived there) man I wish I still had her, she was a runner, never, never had a single problem. lotsa fond memories. My wife and I would go to the drive-in theaters open up the front, crawl in with a blanket and well...I might buy another one someday..but nothin like your first..lol. How does your run, good I bet

 

Ah I just noticed "71" lol, Did they build Super Beetles that year?, she looks damn near cherry..lol

 

it runs pretty good, it sits alot though. It is a standard beetle and 71 was the first year for the super.

 

Hey..ccos or anybody..are the upper and lower balljoints replaceable on the 2WD 98 ranger, or do I have to buy the whole control arm?

 

i think i read somewhere on here (but im not 100%) sure that the uppers were not replaceable on the stock upper control arms if you get the moog one's they will be replacable next time they go out let someone else chim in before you spend a bunch of money you dont need to if the stockers are replacable

i think the lowers are replacable but again im not 100% let me read my haynes book real fast and see what it says

edit:nevermind i forgot my buddy has my book

 

Ok...update. I ordered both ball joints and upper control arms..moog of course..from rockauto.com. OMG what a bargain. $212.00, for both ball joints and both upper control arms, advanced auto wanted $325.00!! lol..ahh yeah, from now on thats where I'm buying my parts, 8 bucks for delivery and got them in less than a week, you cannot go wrong.

Now I have several questions. I started today installing the balljoints..not bad considering you have a rookie doin this. I started on the pax side, I understand that is the side the alignment is adjusted..yes? Anyways, got the lower ball joint in no problem, now comes the problem..the upper control arm on the pax side. I have removed the left upper bolt of the control arm, making sure to mark the camber plate the position it was in before removal. Now I'm on the right side...holy ****..I'm beside myself here. Here you have a bolt that has a small metal plate (about 1 1/2" wide) welded to the bolt..ok, which is tucked between two metal studs..sorta, it looks like its there to prevent the bolt from turning and loosening and falling out..also the camber plate is the same way on the nut side, the hole where the bolt goes through has threads on one side, that obviously the bolt threads through and it also has two metal studes sorta, that the camber plate is in between, it looks to keep from turning, I don't know. What do I do? How do I remove that bolt. The nut is off, its those metal plates and the studes they are in between that is gumming up my progress! What do you do? Pound the living crap out of the bolt and force it out? Can you buy new bolts and camber plates and just replace them? Someone please answer this. I'm at an impasse here.