ok so i was looking in the haynes book and they said that you CANNOT change the factory lower ball joints in a ranger, yet i went to auto zone and can buy the factory lower ball joints. so my question is, do i have to change the whole lower control arm to get new ball joints or can i change the factory ones?

 

anyone?

 

Yes, you can change just the ball joints.

 

yes you can. it can be a pain tho... just remember to bring a big hammer

 

ok. thanks guys. i have lots of big hammers with me being a GM tech and my dad being a machinist. i was just confused cause you can buy the ball joints but it says you have to change the whole control arm and i didnt know wtf to do lol

 

I'm pretty sure you can't. You have to replace the arms, but then next time you can replace the ball joint in the replacement arm.

 

then why can i buy factory replacement ball joints for the factory lower arms?

 

has anyone ACTUALLY changed the factory lower ball joints in a factory lower arm?

 

oops ignore what I said. Somehow I missed "lower" in the thread title! I was thinking uppers... lowers you can replace separately for sure!

 

Yes, I have.

 

lowers can be changed, uppers you need to change the arm the first time

and yes.

 

alright. thanks for all the help. now i just have to get the motivation to tear apart the front ened once again and do it lol